Darfur peace talks postponed again

KHARTOUM (AFP) – Qatari-hosted talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels due to begin on Monday in Doha have again been postponed, a mediator said on Sunday, amid a lingering split in rebel ranks.
Instead, civil society members, including representatives of the diaspora, will meet in Doha for “consultations” on how to clinch a peace deal between Khartoum and the rebels, he said.
“We want to know their point of view on the peace process” before the start of talks between the government and the rebels, the UN-African Union mediator told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“There is no date yet” for talks between the Khartoum government and rebel representatives, he added.
The Qatari-hosted talks had been slated for October 28, but UN mediator Djibril Bassole said at the time they would be postponed until November 16 because it coincided with an African Union summit.
Bassole said the summit would consider a report on Darfur prepared by a high-level panel headed by South Africa’s former president, Thabo Mbeki.
No details about the recommendations have been revealed, but Mbeki said in October: “The resolution of the conflict in Darfur has to be brought about by the Sudanese people themselves and cannot be imposed from outside.”
In February, key Darfur rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) signed an agreement with the government in Khartoum on confidence-building measures aimed at clinching a formal peace deal.
And in May the JEM agreed to resume talks with Khartoum which it broke off after the International Criminal Court in March issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir for alleged war crimes in Darfur.
Since then attempts to make progress have foundered despite efforts by US special envoy Scott Gration who managed to bring together representatives of rebel factions for talks to fine-tune a common stance.
Libya has been also mediating among smaller rebel groups.
But Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur, the leader of the main faction of the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA), one of the main rebel groups in Darfur along with the JEM, is refusing to take part in the Doha talks.
And the JEM says there is no point in going to Qatar if there is no unity among rebels — who have split into 20 movements, factions and smaller groups since 2006.
“We cannot have discussions in Doha if there is no unity,” JEM chief Khalil Ibrahim told AFP. “The best way to launch peace talks is to begin with the JEM.”
Khartoum has meanwhile urged all sides to resume the peace talks.
“We encourage everyone to go to Doha. We must work in a way that no one person should have a right of veto” over a possible peace deal, Beshir adviser Ghazi Salaheddine said on Saturday in Paris.
The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels in Darfur first rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum in February 2003.
Sudan’s government says 10,000 people have been killed.