Violence pushes peace talks off track

Continuing violence in Darfur is derailing efforts to find a political roadmap out of a crisis that has pitted the Sudanese government against rebel groups for almost two years, delegates at AU-sponsored talks said on Monday. The December round of talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, was supposed to focus on a political solution to the conflict, which has forced more than 1.6 million people from their homes. The AU wanted to have a declaration of principles by the time talks wrapped up on 22 December that would deal with the equitable distribution of power and wealth in Darfur, as well as the integration of all ethnic, cultural and religious groups. But mediators have been forced to revisit old sticking points after an escalation of violence has left previous accords in tatters. The fourth round of talks formally opened at the weekend but it was only on Monday that the warring parties met face-to-face and then it was just to hear monitors rattle off a volley of ceasefire violations that both sides had committed. The AU said on Monday that 13 ceasefire violations had been recorded in September, but that number had leapt to 52 for October, November and the first week of December. “The spate of attacks, counter-attacks and retaliation have reached unacceptable levels and require the concrete and specific actions of the parties to end them,” said Sam Ibok, chief AU mediator at the talks. The violence is continuing despite accords signed by both sides in November to improve security in the western region of Sudan and guarantee aid workers access to civilians caught up in the crisis. "It's difficult to see what new progress the sides can make at this round when the limited gains achieved at the last round appear to be unravelling before their very eyes," said Tom Cargill of London-based independent research body, Chatham House. Delegates representing both Khartoum and the rebels, demanding a better economic and political deal for Darfur, warned that the violence was poisoning the latest peace meet. "The situation is sad and efforts should be exerted to stop the violations and make the atmosphere conducive for negotiations," Mohammed Ibrahim, part of the Sudanese government team, told IRIN. Khartoum has accepted responsibility for some of the violations but defends its actions saying that "lawless elements" needed to be cleared from roads to allow aid workers access. The rebels, who have also been blamed for attacks, have demanded that the government pull back its forces from rebel held areas. Abduljabbar Dofa of the rebel group, the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement presented an equally bleak view. "We need to do some confidence-building to sort this out, otherwise the talks might collapse," he said. And even the official AU spokesman at the Abuja talks admitted that earlier achievements like the security and aid access accords, were being thrown into question. “It doesn’t make sense to have these agreements if they’re not being implemented,” Assane Ba told reporters. Underlining just how much work remains to be done in terms of security and humanitarian access, Save The Children said that two of its aid workers had been killed in southern Darfur on Sunday when their convoy came under fire. The charity said it had suspended operations in the area for the time being. The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003 when the rebels took up arms against the government, accusing Khartoum of years of neglect and oppression. The Sudanese government tried to put down the rebellion using an Arab militia, known as the Janjawid, which has also been accused of waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the villagers in Darfur. The UN calls Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of people have died and about 2.3 million more are in desperate need of aid.