World should hold Darfur rebels accountable – UN’s Pronk

CAIRO, Nov 25 (Reuters) – The world should hold Darfur rebels accountable for breaking their promises to end violence in the region of western Sudan, the U.N. envoy to Khartoum said on Thursday.

Jan Pronk did not say what measures should be taken but his comments signal a hardening U.N. stance toward the rebels, who have been largely seen as the aggrieved party since they launched a revolt against Khartoum in early 2003.

The two main rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), began fighting Khartoum in early 2003 after years of conflict between mainly African farming communities and largely Arab nomadic groups.

“I do really think that the international community should hold them (SLA) accountable for not complying with international agreements and their own promises,” Pronk told reporters after meeting Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Cairo.

Pronk said on Wednesday the rebels were to blame for recent heavy fighting in North Darfur state and had violated security protocols signed two weeks ago in Nigeria.

The two groups accuse Khartoum of neglecting Darfur and of arming Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn non-Arab villages in the region, which is the size of France.

Khartoum says it has armed some militias to fight the rebels but denies any links to the Janjaweed, calling them outlaws.

The United Nations has threatened sanctions against Sudan if it fails to stop the Darfur violence, which it says has led to a crisis in which more than an estimated 70,000 people have died since March from malnutrition and disease.

The United States has called the situation genocide.

A commission to monitor an April cease-fire between the government and both groups is meeting in the Chadian capital on Thursday to review the security situation in Darfur.