Sudan government and Darfur rebels start fresh peace talks

Representatives of the Sudanese government and two rebel movements in the western province of Darfur met in Chad on Tuesday to discuss a political solution to the 15-month old conflict that has forced more than 800,000 people to flee their homes. A Sudanese diplomat told IRIN by telephone from the Chadian capital N'djamena that the talks were due to begin in the presence of Chadian President Idriss Deby. Official sources told IRIN that the negotiations finally started behind closed doors on Tuesday night. Deby's government mediated an earlier round of talks between the two sides which led to the declaration of a 45-day truce that took effect on 11 April. The ceasefire was supposed to allow relief agencies to gain immediate access to more than 700,000 people who have been internally displaced within Darfur. However, the rebels have accused government forces of violating the truce and international relief agencies have complained about continuing difficulties in gaining access to government-controlled areas of Darfur. However The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights announced on Tuesday that the Sudanese authorities have granted permission for a UN human rights fact-finding team to visit Khartoum and the Darfur region. The five-person team would be travelling to the area within the next few days to complete the work which they had set out to do when they left for Chad on the 5th of April. The team had been in Chad from 5 to 14 April where they interviewed people who fled Darfur.  More than 110,000 other civilians from Darfur have fled as refugees into eastern Chad. The first round of talks at which UN and western observers were present, focussed exclusively on achieving a humanitarian ceasefire. This new round, which will only be witnessed by the Chadian mediation team and observers from the African Union, is designed to tackle the thorny political issues that must be resolved in order to achieve a lasting peace settlement. The two rebel movements, the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, say they are fighting the army of President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir and its Arab militia allies in order to force the government to do more for the economic and social development of Darfur. The poor and arid region one and a half times the size of Germany, is home to six million people, most of whom are nomads and subsistence farmers. However, the conflict has been marked by a struggle for land as the Sahara desert creeps south, with Arab nomads pitched against black tribesmen. According to relief agencies and human rights groups, pro government forces have conducted a "scorched earth" policy which has forced many black communities to abandon their villages and their land. The government has denied this. However, there have been almost daily reports of atrocities against civilians. The United Nations last month described war in Darfur as the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis.” The Sudanese diplomat told IRIN that the government was "keen on negotiations and keen to find a solution for the people of Darfur.” He said the government delegation mainly comprised natives of Darfur province and this was a deliberate move to the team more credibility in the talks. But he added that Khartoum suspected the rebel movements of having other “plans.” He did not elaborate. IRIN was unable to contact representatives of the two rebel movements for comment.