Sudan accuses Darfur rebels of trying to undermine southern peace deal
KHARTOUM, Jan 7 (AFP) — Sudan accused ethnic minority rebels in the Darfur region on Friday of trying to sabotage peace with the south by stepping up operations ahead of the signing of a final deal with southern rebels.
Security authorities have uncovered a “subversive plot” by Darfur rebels that includes increasing attacks in the region, claimed Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail, quoted by state-run Sudan News Agency.
He said the escalation had been timed to coincide with the signing of a peace deal with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and designed to “show that peace is incomplete and that the Darfur problem is still there.”
Khartoum and the SPLM will on Sunday ink a final peace agreement to end the country’s 21-year civil war, which has claimed some 1.5 million lives, but the deal does not cover a separate conflict in the western region of Darfur.
The conflict flared in February 2003 when two main rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, launched a revolt against Khartoum, demanding an equal share of national development.
It has so far claimed at least 70,000 lives and displaced 1.6 million people, amid rampant human rights violations.
The warring parties in Darfur signed a ceasefire agreement in April 2004 in Chad and a security protocol later in the year in the Nigerian capital Abuja, but each side accuses the other of persistently violating the truce.
Ismail said the rebels were preparing for a new offensive in Darfur that was aimed at undermining “the peace momentum” in the south, but added that these efforts were doomed to fail.
Peace, he said, “has become a property of the people and anyone who attempts to undermine it will be swimming upstream.”
The foreign minister said his government would file a complaint on the rebel moves with the African Union, which is tasked with monitoring truce violations by the parties.
The international community hopes that the deal with the south can be used as a model to resolve other conflicts in the country, including Darfur.