Darfur peace talks to resume Sep 15 with eye on year-end pact
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-08-25 09:45

Peace talks between Sudan's government and the two Darfur rebel factions will resume next month in Nigeria with the parties pledging to reach a deal by the end of the year, the African Union (AU) special envoy for the troubled western Sudanese region said, AFP reported.

After informal talks among the three sides in the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam and coastal town of Bagamoyo, AU mediator Salim Ahmed Salim said the negotiations, which had been due to resume this week, would start again in Abuja in mid-September.

"The parties agreed that they will resume talks on 15th of September," he told reporters at a news conference in Dar es Salaam. "The consultations went on very well and the parties are determined to reach a conclusive agreement by the end of the year."

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres (L) shakes hands with internally displaced Sudanese men at the Riyad camp in the western Darfur region of Sudan August 24, 2005. [Reuters]

Salim, flanked by delegates from the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) but no representatives from Khartoum, said the AU was committed to seeing stability restored in Darfur.

The ex-Tanzanian politician and former secretary general of the now-defunct Organization of African Unity (OAU) said negotiations on key issues not included in a July framework agreement would be preceded by workshops on reconciliation.

Salim noted that the pan-African body was increasing its troop strength in the region to oversee a shaky truce but called on all sides to adhere strictly to earlier agreements, including a ceasefire that has been routinely violated.

"We insist the parties respect and implement earlier agreements and protocols on the ceasefire," he said. "This will speed up the process and sustain international efforts in (ending) the suffering of the people of Sudan."

The officials from the JEM and SLM -- which have fought among themselves as well as against Khartoum's troops and pro-government militias -- pledged their commitment to a peaceful resolution of the 29-month-old conflict.

"We want to see an end to suffering," said JEM delegate Tageldin Nyam. "The objective is to have a comprehensive agreement by the end of the year."

"We are committed to the process," Ahmed Yatoub of the SLM said.

The talks had been due to resume in the Nigerian capital on Wednesday but the SLM earlier this month urged them to be put off until the beginning of October, a call Khartoum deplored as not being in the interests of peace.

On-again, off-again AU-mediated talks hosted by Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo, the current president of the pan-African body, to end the Darfur conflict had last resumed in Abuja on June 10 after a six-month break.

After an antagonistic round, the parties on July 5 signed a declaration of principles to form the basis for future political dialogue but left key issues such as power- and wealth-sharing and security unresolved.

Under the deal, the Arab-led Khartoum regime agreed to guarantee traditional tribal ownership rights over land in Darfur and allow the black African region autonomy under a reformed federal constitution.

Both sides also agreed to find ways to pay reparations to those who have suffered and guaranteed the displaced an "inalienable right of return to their place of origin."

Discussions on outstanding points had been set to resume in Abuja on August 24 but earlier this month the SLM said that date was too early and demanded a delay, prompting an angry response from Khartoum.

Fighting in Darfur broke out in February 2003 when an uprising representing the mainly black population of the region led Khartoum to unleash Arab militias known as Janjaweed, which have been accused of torture, rape and intimidation.

The conflict has claimed between 180,000 and 300,000 lives, displaced around 2.4 million people and sent more than 200,000 fleeing to neighbouring Chad, sparking one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

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