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Darfur rebels dismiss AL peace initiative
An Arab League-sponsored initiative, aimed at bringing peace to the war-ravaged western Sudanese region of Darfur was dismissed by Darfur rebel groups on Thursday. They said the move came five years too late.

Arab League foreign ministers decided on Monday to establish a committee headed by Qatar and including Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Syria, Libya and Egypt to sponsor peace talks between rebels and Khartoum. The committee will work alongside the United Nations and African Union, which are charged with mediating the stalled peace talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict.
There you go. A committee. That'll do it.
However, the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) dismissed the committee, saying it would rather see Arab condemnation of Khartoum's "atrocities" in Darfur.

"We welcome any honest attempt at a peace process, but we don't want the Arab League to be exploiting the differences in Darfur," said JEM spokesman Ahmed Hussain. "We are waiting for the Arab League to condemn the atrocities happening on the ground, such as what the government did in Kalma," Hussain said, referring to an attack last month by government forces on a displaced persons' camp that left more than 30 dead.

The Sudan Liberation Army also rejected the League's initiative, claiming it was timed to support Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir in efforts to delay potential charges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and genocide in Darfur. "It's just a desperate attempt to save the Sudanese president from international justice," said Mahgoub Hussein, a London-based spokesman of the SLA-Unity faction.

"It is five years too late; where have they been until now?" he told reporters. "There cannot be talk of peace deals when the government is attacking civilians."
Posted by: Fred 2008-09-12
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=249771