Sudan government, rebels move towards new talks on Darfur / Rebel groups invited to Darfur peace talks in August

Four stories from over the course of today that update yesterday's batch:

From DPA...

The brutal Darfur conflict moved one step closer to a solution [on] Monday when delegates at an African Union (AU) and United Nations meeting in Libya agreed to convene next month in a bid to include rebel factions in peace talks.

The second international meeting on Darfur, which brought together envoys from 14 countries, agreed to hold discussions in Arusha, Tanzania, August 3-5 to discuss how to move forward a stagnant political resolution to the four-year-long conflict.

'The meeting welcomed the proposal of the special envoys to convene a meeting with leading personalities of the non-signatory movements ... in an effort to facilitate the preparations for negotiations,' said a final communique issued in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after the two-day meeting.

Only one of the western region's rebel factions signed on to a largely ineffective peace deal in May 2006, and observers say [that] a more-inclusive agreement is necessary to foster a full peace.

Since last year, splinter groups have been forming, and on Saturday, a new group, the United Front for Liberation and Development, came together to act as a stronger force at the negotiating table.

The Darfur conflict, which Washington terms genocide, began when rebels rose up against Khartoum's Islamist government, complaining that the region remained poor and undeveloped.

Khartoum is charged with arming militias on horse-back to quash the rebellion, and in turn the UN estimates more than 200,000 people have been killed and some 2 million [have been] forced from their homes. The government disputes those numbers.

Sudan last month accepted a 'hybrid' UN-AU mission of up to 20,000 troops to be deployed to keep the peace in war-ravaged Darfur, but it would be months before such a force is on the ground.

From Reuters...

The United Nations and the African Union invited Darfur rebel factions that did not sign a 2006 peace deal with the Sudanese government to attend talks in Tanzania next month, the two bodies said on Monday.

The meeting's aim is to ensure that all parties are involved and consulted about plans for the next round of peace talks between rebels and the government, and to avoid the "deadline diplomacy" [that] critics cited as a reason the 2006 deal's failure.

Envoys of the United Nations, [the] African Union, [the] European Union, [the] Arab League and government representatives from 14 countries, including the United States, China, Russia, Libya and Egypt, wrapped up a two-day meeting on Darfur in Tripoli on Monday.

"The meeting underlined that the current situation in Darfur is dynamic, fragile and evolving rapidly," a statement said.

"Participants agreed that there is a need for urgent action to achieve a comprehensive political agreement to end the conflict and the long suffering of the people in Darfur."

International experts estimate [that] 200,000 people have died in four years of rape, killing and disease in Darfur, violence [that] the United States calls genocide. Khartoum rejects the term, and puts the death toll at 9,000.

Only one of the three rebel negotiating factions signed last year's peace deal on Darfur, which has been roundly criticised by many of the country's estimated 2.5 million refugees, who said [that] it did not go far enough to ensure their security.

Since the May [2006] deal, the rebels have split into more than a dozen factions, who will not all get a seat around the negotiating table.

The statement did not name the factions to attend the talks in Arusha, Tanzania, on Aug. 3-5, but urged Libya, Chad and Eritrea to "facilitate efforts aimed at bringing cohesion among the non-signatory movements, in furtherance of the peace process in Darfur".

In Eritrea on Saturday, five Darfur rebel groups agreed to unite ahead of possible peace talks.

In a statement to reporters, the new group, the United Front for Liberation and Development (UFLD), called on other rebels in Sudan's western region to join them.

From AFP...

Efforts to end the four-year conflict in Sudan's Darfur region by paving the way for new talks between Khartoum and fragmented rebel groups took a step forward on Monday, at a meeting of key players in Libya.

International envoys and rebel groups which failed to sign up to a May 2006 peace deal will meet next month to fix a date and venue for the start of negotiations between the warring sides, according to a final statement from the two-day conference organised by the United Nations and the African Union.

The talks will take place in Arusha, Tanzania, between August 3 and 5, according to the statement from the Tripoli conference, the latest bid to find ways to end a civil war that has killed an estimated 200,000 people since 2003.

"We are very happy that this meeting has concluded with a strong message of peace and beginning of negotiations," said the UN envoy for Sudan, Jan Eliasson.

"I think [that] we now see light at the end of the tunnel. It's the moment of truth, and for serious preparations for negotiations," he said. "We have established very strongly the AU/UN lead in this process."

Eliasson's comments were echoed by the African Union's Commissioner for Peace and Security, Said Djinnit, who told AFP: "I think that the month of September will be crucial for Darfur."

Djinnit said [that] the Tripoli conference had highlighted the need to move rapidly towards negotiations between the Sudanese government and rebel movements that did not sign the Abuja peace agreement in 2006.

"We have been in the constructive phase for some weeks. We are making progress on the peace process, and rebel movements are increasingly showing their willingness to resume dialogue," Djinnit said.

The meeting was held as the United Nations examines a revised Security Council draft resolution authorising a joint peacekeeping force in Darfur for an initial 12 months to replace the embattled AU force.

Khartoum has been accused of sponsoring a genocidal crackdown in Darfur through its Janajaweed militia since rebels took up arms in 2003, complaining of marginalisation by the Islamist government.

The United Nations estimates [that] about 200,000 people have been killed and two million [have been] displaced.

Since the United Nations and the African Union launched a new peace drive five months ago, their envoys have made four missions to Sudan, but have been confronted by multiple regional initiatives to try to resolve the conflict.

Representatives of the Justice and Equality Movement, the [main] rebel group which failed to sign the Abuja accord, met officials from the UN, [the] AU and Sudan's neighbours, according to Libyan deputy foreign minister Ali Abdelsalam Triki.

And the AU's special envoy Salim Ahmed Salim said [that] he had secured an agreement from a JEM rebel chief Khalil Ibrahim to take part in all future negotiations.

UN and AU negotiators are in near-daily contact with the roughly dozen rebel groups, but many have not yet agreed to join the talks, Eliasson said.

Five rebel factions said [that] they formed a new alliance on Saturday in Asmara [in order] to present a united front for peace negotiations with Khartoum, and appealed "to all other movements to unify efforts."

But several major rebel groups, including the Sudan Liberation Movement, the Greater Sudan Liberation Movement and the JEM, remain outside the new alliance.

The UN Security Council draft says [that] the proposed peacekeeping force, to be known as UNAMID, will "consist of up to 19,555 military personnel and an appropriate civilian component, including up to 3,772 police personnel."

The ill-equipped and under-funded AU force of 7,000 soldiers has been unable to stem the violence, and is often targeted by the warring parties.

By Maggie Farley of the "Los Angeles Times"...

In an international summit [on] Sunday to push peace in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, the Sudanese government agreed to soon meet rebel groups that thus far have refused to join peace talks.

If the agreement holds, it will be an important step in re-launching a peace process that has stalled since those key rebel factions rejected the widely unpopular Darfur peace agreement struck last year. The so-called non-signatories will meet the first week of August to prepare a unified position for talks with the government in late August or September.

"We've made a serious step forward," said Jan Eliasson, the United Nations' special envoy for Sudan. He and African Union representative Salim Ahmed Salim have devised a blueprint to whittle down competing peace proposals, in order to have the government and multiple rebel factions discuss a single plan for peace in Darfur by the end of the summer.

After weeks of shuttle diplomacy, leaders from the five permanent members of the Security Council, the European Union, and neighboring and donor nations gathered in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, to endorse the move.

At issue is the four-year conflict between rebels and the government that international experts say has resulted in more than 200,000 deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people. The government is accused of arming Arab militias, known as janjaweed, to attack civilians and rival tribes to crush the uprising.

Rival proposals

Before Sunday, Sudan's neighbors, Eritrea and Libya, had been promoting peace initiatives that highlighted their own interests in the war-torn region, but the countries were persuaded to step back and let the U.N. and [the] AU take the lead. The rival plans had given the government of Sudan a chance to play one against another, diplomats said.

"Now we are all going the same direction," Eliasson said. "It's like herding cats, but we did it."

At the end of the first day of the two-day summit, they announced that they had achieved their main goals, but were still refining the wording of the agreement.

The rebel groups opposing the government had splintered into nearly a dozen factions with varying influence, making it difficult to conduct negotiations with Khartoum.

"What we need is the non-signatories to come to some sort of agreement," said Elsamani Elwasila, Sudan's minister of state for foreign affairs. "They have too many different leaders and changing demands."

In a sign of solidarity, five factions said [on] Saturday that they would unite and join the U.N.-sponsored peace process.

The new alliance, calling itself the United Front for Liberation and Development, came together during a meeting in the Eritrean capital, Asmara.

The groups said [that] they had joined to present a united front for peace negotiations with Khartoum, and appealed "to all other movements to unify efforts."

But major groups, including the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Greater Sudan Liberation Movement, remain outside the new alliance.

Representatives from some of the outside groups were on the sidelines of the summit [on] Sunday. They met with AU and U.N. officials, but did not take part in the proceedings.

What's on the table

Negotiators will tackle tough issues that include how much to compensate families driven from their land, how to protect them when they return, and how to disarm roving militias.

"They need a political settlement," said Andrew S. Natsios, the U.S. special envoy for Sudan, "and then we need peacekeepers. People are not going back to their villages unless there is security."

Meanwhile, at the United Nations, the Security Council is debating a resolution authorizing a joint AU-U.N. peacekeeping force of up to 20,000 troops to help stabilize the region, which is the size of France. Sudan grudgingly agreed to accept the force after seven months of negotiations, on condition that it is nearly entirely made up of African soldiers and led by African commanders.

Elwasila, the Foreign Ministry official, said that the troops should not be allowed to use force, and that the Security Council should reward Sudan's compliance by removing the threat of sanctions.

"It is high time now to send positive messages, rather than threatening proposals," he said. "We are not in a confrontation with the U.N."