TRIPOLI, 11 May 2005 — A rebel delegation from the war-wracked Sudanese region of Darfur asked Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi on Monday to defend their interests at an African minisummit in Cairo next week to which they have not been invited. Qaddafi received representatives of both the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement at his tent in the Al-Azizia district of the capital, an AFP correspondent witnessed. The rebels asked the Libyan leader for financial support of seven million dollars and funds to compensate their ethnic minority supporters for the ravages of the Sudanese security forces and their Arab militia allies.
They also asked him to look after their interests in Sunday’s minisummit which will gather Sudanese President Omar Bashir and his counterparts from Chad, Egypt and Nigeria alongside Qaddafi. The rebels accused the Sudanese regime of pursuing a “war of extermination” against Darfur’s minorities since they launched their uprising two years ago. The press was excluded from the reception before Qaddafi responded to the rebel delegation.
Meanwhile, Arab tribal leader Musa Hilal, accused by the United States of being a feared militia leader, on Monday urged Darfur’s tribes to inter-marry to help promote peace in the troubled region. Hilal also told residents of the non-Arab village of Kala that from now on tribes would not hide their criminals but would find them, convict them or send them for judgment to the government or African Union forces monitoring a much-abused cease-fire in the region.
“The rebels and the government will deal with the political solution in talks in Abuja,” he said of the Nigerian capital where talks to end the fighting in Darfur have so far failed to produce an agreement.
“And we will deal with the security and social problems,” he added. Sudan’s remote Darfur region has been plagued by tribal violence for decades and a rebellion launched in early 2003 has traumatized the vast west of the country, killing tens of thousands and driving more than 2 million from their homes.
