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| Dialogue on Darfur crisis off to uneasy start
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By Anaclet Rwegayura
PANA Correspondent
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) -
Three months since the signing of
a ceasefire in neighbouring Chad, the end of the humanitarian
crisis Sudan's restive western region of Darfur is still remote.
The main rebel movements in the region and the regime in Khartoum
do not see eye to eye despite assertions from both sides about
their desire for peace, besides concerns raised by the
international community.
Leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan
Liberation Army (SLA) have threatened to pull out of the
political talks, which started late Thursday at the headquarters
of the African Union, accusing Khartoum of reneging on the
ceasefire deal.
The humanitarian ceasefire agreement was signed 8 April 2004 in
N'djamena, Chad, but the rebels allege that it has since been
violated several times by government troops and the mounted
militia called the 'Janjaweed'.
Speaking on behalf of the rebel movements, JEM general
coordinator Ahmed Mohammed Tugod said they would not take part in
negotiations with the government until it removed all Janjaweed
militia as well as the police and the army from the region.
Tugod claimed government forces have continued mass killings and
other atrocities in Darfur to enforce Khartoum's "stated policy
of Islamisation of Sudan and its racist policy of Arabisation."
SLA coordinator Adam Ali Shogar said government aircraft were
bombarding villages in Darfur and that on 14 July 2004 the
Janjaweed massacred 17 civilians, including teachers.
"We also have names of 77 innocent civilians killed by missiles
shot from Antonov and Apache aircraft. The teachers had their
feet and hands tied before they were killed. They were not
rebels.
"We ask the international community to present the conflict not
as a fight with government. We are fighting for our rights. It is
an ethnic cleansing. I think we need a foreign force to disarm
the perpetrators of this war of extermination," Shogar said.
Insisting that the Sudanese government had not shown commitment
to any clause in the ceasefire agreement, the rebels said their
participation in the political dialogue would be on the condition
that all prisoners-of-war and persons detained because of the
conflict in Darfur are set free.
"We are not denying that dialogue will solve the problem, but we
believe that the situation in Darfur is catastrophic because of
the Khartoum policy of Arabisation," said Tugod.
"We must have a timetable for disarmament and bring the
perpetrators of the conflict in Darfur to justice, otherwise any
dialogue will not be useful. Don't drag us to engage in dialogue
before these conditions are met," Tugod told the AU facilitators
of the talks.
However, AU Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare dismissed
the rebels' conditions saying they were not prerequisites but
elements for the dialogue.
"You have not said anything that we and our partners have not
mentioned before. We need a political solution and we have to set
up the necessary mechanism to take up the issues," Konare stated.
He entreated the JEM and SLA delegations not to leave the
negotiating table. Emphasising that there could be no peace with
either the government or the rebel movements acting alone, Konare
said "the solution will not be found in the streets or by taking
up arms."
"The AU is resolved to be beside you. Many of our partners are
determined to support us. Peace will be made by the Sudanese
themselves," Konare averred.
He appealed to the opposing parties to have confidence in the
dialogue so that they could comply with the agreement reached.
"It is unacceptable that the parties are violating the ceasefire.
I ask the government side to honour the commitment they have made
to disarm the Janjaweed militia.
"The militia should be disarmed and we should engage in the
return of the displaced population. We have to ensure absolute
security of humanitarian agencies because it is fundamental to
building peace," he urged.
Meanwhile, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-
General, Ambassador Mohammed Sahnoun said the objective of the
talks was to find a comprehensive solution to the root causes of
the conflict in Darfur.
"It is crucial that these issues are clearly identified and
addressed to lead to a harmonious development in Sudan," he
stressed.
The international community, represented at the talks by Britain,
France, the US, the European Union and the UN among others, is
seeking a political solution to keep the Sudanese society united
but pluralistic.
But the Sudanese parties must put their cards on the table to
take the process to a successful conclusion.
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| Addis Ababa - 16/07/2004 |
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