Darfur rebels agree to a joint front for peace talks

By DPA

Nairobi/Arusha : A three-day meeting meant to unite fractured rebel groups from Darfur ended Monday, with representatives vowing to negotiate on a joint platform with the Sudanese government to stop the conflict in the embattled region.


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The United Nations and African Union (AU) mediated the talks in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha, which saw the eight rebel factions agree to present a common position when negotiating with Khartoum and recommended peace talks to begin in two or three months.

The groups also agreed to adhere to a cessation of hostilities as long as other parties in the conflict did the same.

Only one faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement and Army (SLMA) signed the Darfur Peace Agreement with the government in May 2006, which has not stopped the violence and sparked a splintering of other rebel groups. Observers say only a united rebel movement can come up against the Khartoum government in new talks.

The start of Friday’s meeting was delayed for several hours after key figures in the rebel movement did not show up, including Abdul Wahid Mohammad al-Nur whose participation in the peace talks is considered crucial to winning support on the ground.

The SLMA founder said he would not attend any talks until the “killing” in Darfur is stopped.

Other rebel leaders threatened not to attend the Arusha meeting if Suleiman Jamous, who has acted as a link between the rebels and humanitarian workers in Darfur, was not there. Jamous has been holed up in a hospital outside Darfur and has been placed under arrest by the government.

“If (the rebels) have really come out with a common position then I think it’s an important step,” said Hannah Stogdon, junior analyst with the International Crisis Group think-tank who was at the meetings. “What’s going on behind the scenes we don’t know.”

The agreement said the united rebel factions would leave the option to Abdul Wahid and any other leader who did not attend the meeting to join the negotiations at any point.

Certain hurdles remain to the new-founded unity. Apart from persuading Abdul Wahid to join, the different factions must choose a representative for their common front at negotiations.

“They can’t all go so it will be interesting to see who they will pick,” Stogdon said.

The Arusha meeting came days after the UN approved a 26,000-strong mission to Darfur, which when deployed will be the world’s largest peacekeeping force.

The UN and AU have urged the divided factions to unite, as a first step toward a new peace deal with the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and find a solution to the four-year conflict which has killed more then 200,000 people and uprooted 2.5 million.

The crisis began when rebels took up arms against the government, charging that Darfur was neglected and undeveloped. Sudan is accused of arming militias known as Janjaweed to quash the rebellion.

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