Two rebel groups of the Darfur region on Tuesday rejected the agenda of peace talks with the Sudanese government in Abuja, insisting the item referring to the garrisoning of rebel forces should be taken out of the agenda, reports the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) refused to discuss the issue of garrisoning, a precursor to disarmament, hours after Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, also the chairman of the African Union that brokered the peace talks in Abuja, announced that the agenda had been unanimously agreed upon by delegates.
He had hailed this as a first step in the right direction.
The news agency Agence France Presse adds that the rebels belated decision was a blow to the African Union. The row over the demobilization of rebel forces blocked any attempt to address the first item on the AU agenda; the humanitarian
situation in Darfur. AU leaders hope that if agreement on a political and security strategy can be reached, it will reinforce efforts to enforce a ceasefire in the western Sudanese region and open the way for more substantive political talks. The rebel groups, however, insist that they want the African Union to pressure Khartoum into granting Darfur and other
regions greater autonomy and a better share of the national income. They are also refusing to disarm.
Dow Jones meanwhile reports that, as the UN August 30 deadline for action nears, the Sudanese government has not reined in Arab militias accused of attacking, raping and killing villagers in the western Darfur region, Assistant Secretary-General Tuliameni Kalomoh told the Security Council.
Kalomoh said that the United Nations continues to receive reports of attacks by the militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, as well as reports of looting and harassment by men in uniform. However, he told the council that humanitarian aid access has improved and there was good cooperation from the government in identifying safe havens for the hundreds of thousands of Sudanese forced to flee their homes to escape the violence.
The New York Times further notes that a preliminary US State Department review of the violence waged in Darfur has implicated government-backed militias in a consistent and widespread pattern of atrocities, including murder, torture, rape and ethnic humiliation. The study, based on 257 interviews conducted in refugee settlements in neighboring Chad in the last two weeks of July, is part of the Bush administrations investigation
of whether the killing in Darfur amounts to genocide.
Kilde: World Bank Press Review
