Sudan will stop attacks if Darfur rebels do-official
KHARTOUM, Dec 16 (Reuters) – The Sudanese government will stop its military operations in the Darfur conflict zone in west Sudan if rebels in the area stop violating a ceasefire deal, a top official in Sudan’s ruling party said on Thursday.
Ibrahim Ahmed Omar, secretary-general of the National Congress Party, was speaking after mediators in the Nigerian capital Abuja said Khartoum had agreed to halt its offensive, a move that raised hopes for restarting peace talks.
“The government accepts stopping military operations in Darfur on condition that the rebels end ceasefire violations,” Omar told reporters after a meeting with National Defence Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh in Khartoum.
A government spokesman in Abuja had also said rebels must cease fire to stop the fresh outbreak of fighting in Darfur.
Both the government and the rebels have accused the each other of violating a shaky ceasefire reached in April. Rebels suspended the latest round of peace talks after accusing the government of launching a new military campaign in Darfur.
“I am optimistic the agreement will happen because of the pressure imposed by the international community and the African Union on the rebels to comply to the security agreement,” Omar said, referring to a security deal reached in November.
Rebels have said they would be ready to return to the negotiating table when government forces stopped bombarding their positions.
The African Union, which is mediating in the talks, has said attacks have tripled in frequency since September and are now occurring daily in Darfur, where about 1.6 million people have been driven from their homes.
The AU, which has sent troops to Darfur to monitor the ceasefire, has set a Dec. 22 deadline to conclude talks on a declaration of principles including power sharing, wealth sharing, security, demobilisation and reintegration.
After years of tribal skirmishes over scarce resources, rebels took up arms last year accusing Khartoum of neglect and of using the Janjaweed to loot and but non-Arab villages. Khartoum denies arming the Janjaweed and calls them outlaws.
The United Nations has said Darfur, an arid area the size of France, is suffering from one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.