Sudan wants guarantees for Darfur rebel's release / Actress Mia Farrow Offers to Exchange Her Freedom for Darfur Rebel's Safe Passage

Three stories from today that somewhat update yesterday's batch:

From Reuters...

Sudan will allow Darfur rebel figure Suleiman Jamous to be moved without risk of arrest, if the international community guarantees [that] he will not rejoin armed rebels in Darfur, a Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday.

Jamous, a rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) [humanitarian] coordinator who is seen as key to the success of any peace process, has been virtually imprisoned for more than 13 months. The Sudanese government labels him a terrorist.

The United Nations has described him as a "consensus builder" among rebel commanders. He was the vital liaison between the world's largest humanitarian operation and insurgents, and helped to ensure relief reached Darfuris.

"If the international community can guarantee that Suleiman Jamous will undertake only political work, and will take part in the political process peacefully, and will not return to those holding arms ... we have no problem after that," Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Mutrif Siddig said.

"Give us those commitments and ... we will ... guarantee his release from Kadugli, and his participation in the political process," Siddig told a new conference in Khartoum.

Divided rebels fractured into more than a dozen groups following a peace deal last year which was signed by only one of three rebel negotiating factions.

At the weekend, U.N. Darfur envoy Jan Eliasson and his African Union counterpart, Salim Ahmed Salim, gathered many rebel commanders and groups together in Tanzania to form a common platform ahead of renewed peace talks with the government.

Elderly Jamous, who is well-respected among many commanders, tried to convince field commanders from the large SLA-Unity faction to take part in the Arusha talks after they refused to participate.

U.S. actress and Darfur activist Mia Farrow this week asked President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to take her freedom in exchange for Jamous, who is in need of urgent medical treatment not available in the U.N. hospital where he has been kept.

Last year the United Nations moved Jamous to South Kordofan, neighbouring Darfur, without informing Khartoum. The government said [that] they would arrest him if he left the U.N. hospital.

Because of attacks and abductions, Darfur's aid operation has had to scale back, with 500,000 people out of reach. Some 2.5 million were driven from their homes by the rape, murder, bombing and looting during more than four years of conflict.

More than 1,000 people have signed an online petition to release Jamous, started less than a month ago. It will be delivered to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday.

From VOA...

Mia Farrow has offered to relinquish her freedom so that an ailing Darfur rebel can get safe passage out of a hospital.

In an August 6 letter posted on her website, the 62-year-old actress-activist made the offer to Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir.

Suleiman Jamous, a moderate who has been a key link between Darfur rebels and aid workers in the beleaguered Sudanese region, is in a U.N. hospital suffering from abdominal problems. The U.N. said [that] he is free to leave, but he fears arrest or government reprisal.

In her letter to President Al-Bashir, Farrow said, "As you are undoubtedly aware, Mr. Jamous is in need of a medical procedure that cannot be carried out in Kadugli. I am therefore offering to take Mr. Jamous' place, to exchange my freedom for his, in the knowledge of his importance to the civilians of Darfur, and in the conviction that he will apply his energies toward creating the just and lasting peace that the Sudanese people deserve and hope for."

Mia Farrow has traveled to Darfur as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, and signed her letter with that title.

Attempts to reach Sudan's Foreign Ministry spokesman on August 7 were not successful. On August 2, the Sudanese government said [that] it would consider a separate written plea by activists and celebrities, including Farrow and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to guarantee Jamous' safe passage.

A leader of one of Darfur's largest rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army, Jamous was seized last year and transferred for medical treatment to the U.N. hospital. He has faced threats from rival rebel chiefs and some government forces.

Humanitarian workers consider Jamous the leader who may best guarantee the safety of their aid convoys, which have come under attack in the area. Activists also say [that] he could spur renewed negotiations between rebel groups and the government after last year's peace deal failed to quell the violence.

UNICEF spokeswoman Kate Donovan said on August 6 that the organization was unaware of Mia Farrow's offer, and would like to consult with her before commenting.

From the "New York Daily News"...

Mia Farrow has a daring plan to win the freedom of an ailing rebel leader from war-ravaged Darfur - she wants to take his place.

The activist actress offered to trade places with Suleiman Jamous, who needs a stomach operation but has been confined to a base in the troubled African desert nation of Sudan for more than a year.

"I am therefore offering ... to exchange my freedom for his," said Farrow in a letter to Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. "[I know] he will apply his energies toward creating the just and lasting peace."

Farrow, 62, is a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and has visited Darfur twice.

She was traveling in Africa, and couldn't be reached for comment on her unusual proposal.

Jamous, a leader of the Sudanese Liberation Army, was originally airlifted from Darfur to the UN base in nearby Kadugli for medical treatment in June 2006.

But the leader needs a stomach biopsy, which cannot be performed at the camp, and believes [that] he will be seized by government forces as soon as he leaves.

"Before his seizure, Mr. Jamous played a crucial role in seeking reconciliation," Farrow said.

There was no immediate response from the Sudan.

The Khartoum government has warned [that] Jamous would be arrested if he leaves, but insisted [that] it was open to talks on his release.

Farrow lived for years with filmmaker Woody Allen, and has 14 biological and adopted children.

She and Allen bitterly split after he started dating her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, whom he eventually married.