NAIROBI, 9 November 2005 — The United States yesterday urged rival factions of Darfur’s main rebel group to unite before resuming peace talks with the Khartoum government aimed at ending 32 months of civil conflict in western Sudan.
US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said the splintered Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) should ensure it returns to talks on November 21 in Nigerian capital Abuja as a united front.
“The SLM needs to return to the next round of Abuja negotiation ... with a common approach,” Zoellick told a press conference after holding talks with SLM factions in Nairobi at the beginning of a six-day Sudan tour to boost the flagging peace talks and press for peace and security.
“The problems of Darfur will not be solved by more violence,” he said, urging both sides to refrain from truce violations that have undermined previous rounds of peace talks.
Both sides have violated a ceasefire signed in 2003 aimed at improving security for displaced people and ensuring a smooth flow of humanitarian supplies.
The Nov. 21 resumption of peace talks among the SLM, another Darfur rebel group, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and the government, have been clouded by a rift in SLM that was caused by a scramble for power.
But the talks may be jeopardized by the SLM’s leadership crisis following last week’s election of SLM’s Secretary-General Mani Arko Minawi as the new leader to replace Abdul Wahid Mohammed Nur, the group’s founder.
But Nur insisted he was the legitimate leader of the biggest rebel group in Darfur, an arid region the size of France, and welcomed the rival faction back into the fold.
