Security Council demands immediate end to violence

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Friday demanding that the Sudanese government, rebel forces and other armed groups in the western region of Darfur cease all violence and ensure that their members comply with international humanitarian law. Adopting resolution number 1574, the Council - which held a special session on Sudan in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Thursday and Friday - endorsed the commitment of the government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army Movement/Army (SPLM/A) to reach a final peace agreement on the conflict in the south soon. The SPLM/A and the government had signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday under which they undertook to conclude and sign a final pact to end more than two decades of civil war in southern Sudan not later than 31 December 2004. "The parties declare their commitment to expeditiously complete negotiation - on ceasefire agreement and implementation modalities, so as to conclude and sign the comprehensive peace agreement no later than 31 December 2004," the memorandum said. The Sudanese state minister in the office of the president, Yahya Hussein Babikar, signed the document on behalf of the government, while the SPLM/A main negotiator, Nhial Deng, signed it for the SPLM/A. On Darfur, the Council demanded that the government and all armed groups "immediately cease all violence and attacks, including abduction - refrain from forcible relocation of civilians, cooperate with international humanitarian relief and monitoring efforts, ensure that their members comply with international humanitarian law, facilitate the safety and security of humanitarian staff, and reinforce throughout their ranks, their agreement to allow unhindered access and passage by humanitarian agencies and those in their employ". The Council said it would monitor compliance with the resolution "subject to a further decision of the Council to take appropriate action against any party failing to fulfil its commitments". It expressed concern over what it said was growing insecurity and violence in Darfur, the dire humanitarian situation there and continuing violations of human rights and repeated breaches of a ceasefire agreement. A comprehensive peace agreement in the south, it noted, would "contribute towards sustainable peace and stability throughout Sudan, and to efforts to address the crisis in Darfur". It urged the Joint Assessment Mission of the UN, the World Bank and other aid donors to continue efforts to prepare for the rapid delivery of an aid package for reconstruction and economic development once a final peace deal had been reached and implementation had begun in southern Sudan. The conflict in Darfur pits government troops and militias allied to it against the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equity Movement, who are fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region by the state. The conflict has displaced an estimated 1.45 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The war between the SPLM/A and the Sudanese government in the south erupted in 1983 when the rebels took up arms against authorities based in the north to demand greater autonomy. In May, they signed six key protocols, covering power-sharing arrangements and the administration of three contested areas during a six-year interim period that will precede a referendum to determine whether the south would remain part of Sudan. Council members started discussing the situation in Somalia on Friday afternoon.