Dialogue on humanitarian access in Darfur

Two rebel groups operating in Darfur in war-torn western Sudan are to hold a dialogue on humanitarian access to the region later this month, which, it is hoped, the government will participate in. Spokesmen for the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) confirmed to IRIN that both organisations would be attending the meeting in Geneva on 14 and 15 February. The Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SFDA), which describes itself as a national political and military movement, but whose leadership is from Darfur, will also participate. The Sudanese government had been invited to participate, but had not yet committed itself, Andy Andrea, a spokesman for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, which is organising the talks, told IRIN. Representatives from the centre would hold a meeting in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, with Sudanese Vice-President Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha next Sunday to "discuss the details of participation" such as the agenda and levels of participation, he said. The purpose of the meeting would be to enable the parties to discuss ways of guaranteeing humanitarian access, such as ensuring the safety of workers and routes, said Andrea. "This is not a discussion about a resolution of the conflict. It's not trying to solve the political differences," he said. Meanwhile, Chadian President Idriss Deby, who mediated in peace talks between the government and the SLA until they broke down in December, said on 2 February that he would renew his mediation efforts. Both the SLA and the JEM, who have called for international mediators, have said publicly that they consider Deby too close to Khartoum to trust. The chairman of the SFDA, Ahmad Ibrahim Dirayj, told IRIN from London that he had met Taha in Kenya on 23 January and was now engaging in talks with the two rebel groups to try to bring about a ceasefire agreement. He said the SFDA was pushing for unrestricted humanitarian access in Darfur, a protocol on the protection of civilians, and the disarming and disbanding of militias by the government. Since mid-December, general insecurity, government air raids and joint militia and army attacks on villages in Darfur have meant that only 15 percent of the over 600,000 displaced are accessible to humanitarian workers. In Chad, an estimated 110,000 more are stranded along the border. On Tuesday, the rights group Amnesty International (AI) said there was "clear evidence" of cooperation between government forces and government-aligned militias. "The Sudanese government should cease all support and supplies to the Janjawid [militias] or establish a clear chain of command and control over them," said AI. "By its silence in the face of abuses, the Sudanese government is condoning or encouraging further abuses. Government forces and its aligned militia must immediately end the targeting of civilians."