Fresh Darfur talks kick off with show of rebel unity

Talks to end the almost three-year conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region kicked off late Tuesday with rebels proclaiming a joint will for progress and the international community pleading for a breakthrough. “The moment of truth for all Sudanese gathered in this room has arrived,” said Salim Ahmed Salim, chief mediator of the African Union (AU), opening a seventh round of talks between the Khartoum government and the two Darfur rebel groups - the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and smaller Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). “It should now be clear to all that there cannot be a military solution to the crisis,” Salim added. Speaking on behalf of the two rebel groups for the first time in such talks, Ahmed Tugod Lissan, JEM’s chief negotiator, said: “We have come with full determination and will to find a lasting solution.” The last round, in October, made only modest progress, Salim said at the time. But that round of talks was clouded by internal divisions within the SLM/A. This latest round had been initially scheduled to resume last week but was delayed as mediators worked to patch up SLM/A divisions. In a weekend breakthrough, the two rival faction leaders within the group, Abdul Waheed Al-Nur and Mini Minawi, met in the Chadian capital Ndjamena and agreed to present a joint position at the talks. Minawi, who claims to be chairman of the Sudanese Liberation Army, had boycotted previous talks in Abuja. His presence is seen as crucial to the success of the negotiations as he has the support of many of the SLM/A’s fighters in the field. Growing rifts between both political leaders and military commanders of the SLM/A have led to a breakdown in the movement's command structure and contributed to the deadlock in previous peace talks. There has been little headway so far on issues such as the share-out of wealth and of power or on security that are at the centre of the fighting. The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003 when the two main rebel groups, the SLM/A and the JEM, took up arms to fight what they called the discrimination and oppression of the region by the Sudanese government. The government is accused of unleashing militia - known as the Janjawid - on civilians in an attempt to quash the rebellion. Some 3.3 million people continue to be affected by the conflict, according to the UN, of whom 1.8 million have been internally displaced and 200,000 have fled to neighbouring Chad. In a message to the participants at the talks, Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo and AU chairman said through his Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji that this session of talks must be the last. “We fervently hope that this round will be the most decisive and final round,” Obasanjo said. And in a statement in New York, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday urged the parties to end a conflict viewed as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. "The Secretary-General strongly appeals to the parties to the Abuja peace process … to immediately stop all violence and atrocities on the ground." "He calls on the parties to negotiate a just and comprehensive peace agreement." Violence, killings and rapes have escalated in the past two months in contravention of a ceasefire and Annan last week warned that Darfur could descend into complete lawlessness and anarchy. At the last round, three negotiating commissions discussed power sharing, wealth sharing and security arrangements, but progress was made on technical and procedural points rather than substantive issues. On power sharing, the parties reached agreement on human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as on criteria and guidelines for power sharing. They also agreed upon a 10-point agenda for discussions on wealth sharing during this round of talks. Consultations on the issue of security arrangements were informal.