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Sudan in 'turning point' deal with Darfur rebels
Sudan and Darfur's most active rebel group signed an accord on Tuesday paving the way for broader peace talks to end a conflict that has claimed the lives of several hundred thousand people in six years."This is an important turning point in the Darfur conflict," said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, whose country hosted a week of talks between the Khartoum government and the Justice and Equality Movement. "I am very optimistic, as both sides are determined to end this conflict," he said at a press conference following the signing. The Doha talks were the first contacts since 2007 between the government and representatives of the JEM, which boycotted another largely abortive Darfur peace deal in 2006. "The accord stipulates that negotiations continue toward a final peace agreement, in a period no longer than three months," Sudan's ambassador to Qatar, Abdullah al-Faqiri told AFP. "We will reach a final and just solution with God's will, to end this war, which ... will be the last war in Sudan," JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim said at the press conference. He said that "in a sign of goodwill," the JEM would release a number of prisoners from the government side. Prisoner exchange: The Sudanese ambassador said that the agreement provided for an exchange of prisoners in the near future. Sheikh Hamad, who is also Qatar's foreign minister, said on Monday that he hoped negotiations on a ceasefire and a prisoner swap would be launched in two weeks. JEM member Tahar el-Fakih told the official Qatar News Agency: "The two sides have committed themselves in principle to an exchange of prisoners, to be freed in successive groups between now and the launch of talks on a framework agreement on peace in Darfur." The JEM leader said the group is keen to include all warring factions in the negotiations, and called on Sudan's neighbours Chad, Egypt, Libya and Eritrea as well as the international community to join the talks. The sponsors of the Doha talks - Qatar, the United Nations, African Union and Arab League - stressed that they were preliminary and intended to pave the way for a broader peace conference on Darfur. The most heavily armed of the Darfur rebel groups, the JEM declined to sign the 2006 peace deal signed by one other faction and in May last year launched an unprecedented assault on the Sudanese capital. According to the United Nations, 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels in Darfur rose up against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government in February 2003. Sudan, whose President Omar al-Beshir is facing a possible international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes including genocide in Darfur, puts the death toll at 10,000. Tuesday's accord followed a long meeting on Monday between the heads of the two delegations, Ibrahim for the JEM and Nafie Ali Nafie, a top aide to Beshir. Ibrahim had said at the start of the talks that broader peace negotiations would only be possible if the government was prepared to accept the winding up of allied Arab militias in Darfur and allow high-level rebel representation in the central government. He said confidence-building measures should include the expansion of aid deliveries to rebel-held areas as well as the release of JEM prisoners. Posted by: Fred 2009-02-18 |
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