Darfur talks to seek political pact amid fighting
By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA, Dec 10 (Reuters) – Sudanese officials and Darfur rebels arrived in Nigeria on Friday for talks on a political deal to end two years of conflict in the vast desert region which observers say is slipping deeper into chaos.
An earlier round of the African Union-sponsored talks last month reached agreements on aid and disarmament, but they have been violated by both sides, leading the United Nations to say this week Darfur was sliding into anarchy.
“Until there is a pullback by both sides it is difficult to point to a positive effect of the talks on the conflict,” said Tom Cargill, Africa programme coordinator at London’s Royal Institute for International Affairs.
Many delegates gathered for an opening ceremony on Friday afternoon only for the African Union to postpone it at the last minute by a day due to some key absences.
“We are having some logistical problems. Some rebels missed their flights. The Chadian co-mediators are also not here, so we feel it is better to postpone it until tomorrow,” said AU spokesman Assane Ba.
The Sudanese government has said it was optimistic a declaration of principles can be agreed by the end of the year — a view shared by Nigerian officials.
“I see no reason not to be optimistic. We succeeded at the first two levels on security and humanitarian issues, and now this is the last phase, the political solution,” a Nigerian diplomat said.
The rebels, who took up arms against the government in early 2003 in protest at what they said was Khartoum’s marginalisation of the western region, were not so upbeat.
“This year we have signed several protocols but the government keeps on violating them. There are air raids, killing and ethnic cleansing in Darfur. We don’t expect much from this meeting though we come with an open mind,” Abdulhamid Bichara, an adviser to the Justice and Equality Movement.
REFUGEES
About 1.6 million Darfuris have fled their homes since February 2003 for fear of attack by Arab militiamen who were mobilised by the government as auxiliaries in a campaign to crush the rebellion.
But Khartoum says the attacks are carried out by outlaws and it is not responsible for their actions.
The United States, which has failed to get sanctions imposed on the government, has called the campaign genocide.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this week Darfur was plagued by banditry, rape and village burnings with 2.3 million people in desperate need of aid.
The African Union has deployed 900 ceasefire monitors to Darfur, a region the size of France, and expects to reach the full complement of 3,300 troops by the end of the year.
Human rights campaigners have complained of the slow pace of deployment amid renewed fighting in Darfur.
The African Union said both sides had committed “serious and unacceptable” ceasefire violations in the past few weeks.
The Sudan Liberation Movement carried out attacks on various places including Tawilla, in North Darfur, Adwah village, in South Darfur, the town of Um-Asal and at Draida, the AU said in a statement issued in Ethiopia.
It said offensives by government forces this week in Bilel and Isham also violated the ceasefire.