When a UN official announced last month that Darfur was no longer a region at war, most informed observers did a double take. This part of the Sudan may have been enjoying a period of relative calm, despite continuing brigandage, but a lasting peace is still a long way off and tragically, therefore, the conflict is far from over.
And so it has proved in the last few days, with clashes in the north of Darfur between the Sudanese Army and one of the main rebel groups still fighting, the self-styled Sudanese Liberation Army. It appears the authorities were seeking to push elements of the SLA out of the Korma area. The outcome of the clash is not yet clear.
It was probably a coincidence that as the renewed fighting was taking place, the leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), the only significant Darfuri rebel group that signed up to the May 2006 Peace Agreement, launched a bitter verbal attack on another rebel group — the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). Minni Arcua Minnawi accused his former allies of being “Nazis” with a “fascist” ideology that, he claimed, meant if they ever came to power they would exterminate their opponents.
What Minnawi said is, however, less interesting than why he chose to speak out at this time. Since he led the SLM from the conflict, Minnawi and his supporters were supposed to be reaping the rewards of making peace. He himself was appointed a senior presidential assistant. The expectation was that the SLM would form part of a new Darfur regional administration that would encourage rebel communities to abandon their support for the groups that had rejected the peace deal and instead work together to present their grievances to a listening Khartoum.
There was always a strong element of optimism here. As Minnawi himself well knew, virtually all the different rebel groups with their sonorous names, in fact, represent a range of rival clans. Darfur has never been a single shattered society but rather a shattered mosaic. But he could have entertained the honorable hope that since this conflict has almost certainly claimed approaching 300,000 lives and driven 2.7 million people from their homes, the SLM’s initiative in making peace with the government might have encouraged others, especially if the benefits were clear for other rebels to see.
Unfortunately for both Minnawi and Darfur, the peace dividend accruing to the SLM has hardly been in evidence. Three years after inking the deal, there has been no targeted government effort to capitalize upon it. Now Minnawi, clearly feeling sidelined, is protesting that Khartoum has reneged on its promises. In effect, he is claiming that the SLM was tricked into quitting fighting. Though he still hopes further discussions can iron out the difficulties, it seems to some observers as if Minnawi may be preparing to rejoin the fighting, by first berating the rival JEM rebels. This must not happen. Khartoum should be acting swiftly to bring the SLM back on side by delivering on its 2006 peace promises.
