ABUJA, 24 August 2004 — Sudan rejected an offer of foreign troops to disarm rebels in Darfur as peace talks began in Nigeria, insisting it was capable of neutralizing both pro-government and rebel militia fighting in the western region.
Sudan’s top government negotiator Mazjoub Al-Khalifa dismissed Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo’s proposal to send African Union troops to disarm rebels and leave disarmament of the pro-government Janjaweed militia to Khartoum.
“I don’t think there is need for this,” said Khalifa, Sudan’s agriculture minister, as he entered talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja. “Simultaneously we will disarm the rebel movements, the Janjaweed and other militia.”
Obasanjo, who is also AU chairman, proposed the deal on Sunday night arguing that the Sudanese forces were incapable of disarming the rebels without more fighting.
“The government may not be capable of peaceful disarmament of the rebels. This is where the efforts of the AU will be necessary,” he said ahead of the talks also attended by negotiators from two Darfur rebel groups.
The Darfur revolt broke out in February 2003 after years of conflict between Arab nomads and African farmers over scarce resources in Sudan’s arid western region. Rebels say Khartoum has armed Arab Janjaweed militia to loot and burn villages in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Khartoum denies the charge and calls the Janjaweed outlaws.
But the government has intensified efforts to prove it is cracking down on the militia ahead of an Aug. 30 UN Security Council deadline to show progress toward protecting civilians and disarming the Janjaweed or face possible sanctions.
The United Nations says the fighting has triggered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with more than a million people displaced in Sudan, 200,000 refugees in neighboring Chad and about 50,000 people killed.
Rwanda has already sent 155 troops to protect AU officials monitoring a cease-fire between the rebels and the government, and Nigeria is due to send another 150 this week.
But Nigeria is already thinking of sending up to 1,500 troops and other African nations have offered to join them.
A previous Darfur peace initiative broke down in July after the rebels demanded as a precondition for talks that the government disarm the Janjaweed. Obasanjo said the AU troops could be key to break this deadlock.
Sudan, keen to restrict the role of foreign troops in its territory, has said the AU would need its approval to increase the size of its force in Darfur.
The Nigeria talks, also attended by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, come two days after Khartoum signed an agreement with the United Nations to ensure the voluntary return of refugees and to give Darfuris more say in local government.
Khartoum has set up safe areas for refugees to return to, and has agreed to double the number of police in the area the size of France.
