ABUJA, 31 October 2004 — Sudanese government delegates and Darfur rebels failed to reach agreement early yesterday on a draft security protocol aimed at breaking a deadlock at peace negotiations in Nigeria. Both sides met with African Union mediators late into the night to try to iron out their differences, but did not hold face-to-face negotiations, despite earlier pledges to do so.
International observers at the talks hope the framework will stop violence in Darfur that has driven more than 1.5 million people from their homes. “There is still a gap ... between the opinions of the parties,” Ahmed Tugod, chief negotiator for one of the two rebel movements fighting in Darfur, told reporters after the meeting.
The talks took a break yesterday after government and rebel delegates worked late into the night to try to overcome a deadlock in negotiations. African Union, government and rebel spokesmen at the talks venue in the Nigerian capital Abuja confirmed that the talks would restart at around 10:00 a.m. (0900 GMT) today.
Delegates will meet to consider a draft agreement on the demilitarization of the conflict in Darfur, where some 1.5 million displaced people still live in fear of attack, hunger and disease despite a shaky cease-fire. Darfur’s two rebel groups launched an insurrection 20 months ago to demand greater autonomy from the Arab-led Khartoum government, which they allege has marginalized the region’s black African majority.
The draft security proposal requires the government to make good on pledges to disarm its Arab and Janjaweed allies and identify any other militias it has been supporting. The document also calls on both sides to cooperate with the AU cease-fire commission and say where their forces are located.
Rebels have voiced skepticism over the document, saying it does not mention a demand for a no-fly zone over Darfur or tell the government to pull back its forces to barracks. “We don’t think that this will guarantee security on the ground,” said Abdullahi Osman, adviser to the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), before Friday night’s meeting.
Sudanese government representatives at the talks say the document is weak because there is no demand for rebels to garrison their forces. The United Nations says Darfur is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, which has killed around 70,000 people through disease and malnutrition since March. There are no reliable figures for how many people have died in the fighting.
The top UN envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk, has said a UN Security Council resolution demanding that the violence stop in Darfur and a humanitarian protocol drawn up in April mean the two sides need not discuss aid access or other security issues, which stalled a previous round of talks in Abuja.
Rwandan troops left for Darfur region yesterday, to join Nigerian soldiers to monitor the cease-fire, officials said in Kigali. The 65-strong troops, with military equipment and food items, were flown by US military aircraft, which transported 50 Nigerians to Darfur on Thursday. A total of 237 soldiers are expected to leave Kigali for Darfur in the next four to five days.
“Today 65 forces have moved to Darfur and the remaining will be airlifted over the next few days,” Gen. Marcel Gatsinzi, the minister of defense.
“These forces will be protecting cease-fire observers on the ground.” They will join another 155 Rwandan soldiers who arrived in Darfur on Aug. 15 as part of an expanded African Union mission there.
