LIBREVILLE, 13 April 2004 — The warring sides in Sudan’s western Darfur region are respecting the cease-fire that aims to end a yearlong conflict between the government and rebels that has claimed more than 10,000 lives, a rebel group said yesterday.
The cease-fire, a 45-day renewable accord negotiated between the Khartoum government and two Darfur rebel groups, officially went into effect late Sunday. “Up until now the cease-fire has been respected,” Abdallah Abdel Kerim of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) told AFP by telephone.
The statement followed Sunday’s promise by Sudanese President Omar Bashir to honor the terms of the truce deal agreed in the Chadian capital N’djamena. But, complained Abdel Kerim, “the government, instead of disarming the militias, is integrating them into the national army. This is contrary to the N’djamena accords.”
The truce provides for the guarantee of safe passage for humanitarian aid to the stricken region, the freeing of prisoners of war and the disarming of government-supported militias blamed for much of the violence.
The local Arab militias, known as “Janjaweeds”, fought side by side with Sudanese government forces and have been accused by the United Nations and non-governmental organizations of “atrocities” and “ethnic cleansing”.
The rebels in Darfur, a region populated by non-Arab Muslims, contend that their region has been marginalized by the Arab, Muslim authorities in Khartoum.
The conflict, which erupted in February last year, is described by the UN as “the world’s worst current humanitarian disaster.” It has displaced about 670,000 inside Sudan, while some 100,000 more have fled into neighboring Chad.
However, a rebel commander accused the government of breaking the spirit of cease-fire by attacking two villages shortly before hostilities were officially scheduled to stop. Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) field commander Ahmed Adam said the attacks on the villages showed a lack of good faith and “proved that the government isn’t serious
The JEM said there had been no fighting in Darfur since the cease-fire came into force. “The fighting has stopped entirely,” Abu Bakr Hamid Al-Nur told Reuters. “If there are any breaches from the Janjaweed, that means a breach by the government because they are militias armed and supported by the government,” Nur said.
Bashir on Sunday vowed his government would respect the cease-fire. “We have come to confirm to President Deby that we are committed to respecting the N’djamena agreements,” Bashir said of the cease-fire.
