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 New peace proposal meets demands - Darfur rebels
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Thu, May 04, 2006 Edition
New peace proposal meets demands - Darfur rebels
Thursday 4 May 2006 20:46
May 4, 2006 (ABUJA)
A proposal drafted by the United States and Britain to help end the war in Sudan’s Darfur region meets key rebel demands and could set the stage for a peace accord, a rebel negotiator said Thursday.
unidentified SLA rebelA rebel negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity because the parties involved had been asked not to reveal details of the proposal, said it called for thousands of rebels to be integrated into Sudanese security forces.
Sudanese government officials were not immediately available for comment but have indicated they were ready to make concessions.
Jaffer Monro, spokesman for the largest rebel group, the Sudan Liberatian Movement, told The Associated Press that the U.S.-drafted revisions to an earlier draft made an agreement possible.
"We are going to study them, but the improvements give us the sign that we can agree, that we do not need to renegotiate and that there will be no further delay for the final agreement," he said.
The rebel statements came as top U.S. and British envoys faced a Thursday midnight deadline to persuade Darfur’s warring parties to sign a peace pact and resolve the crisis that has claimed at least 180,000 lives and forced more than 2 million people to flee their homes in the vast western Sudanese region.
The negotiator said the draft called for a minimum of 4,000 rebels to be integrated into Sudan’s armed forces and another 1,000 in the police force. In addition, 3,000 rebels would be given training and education to prepare them for civilian life.
The concessions from the Sudanese government make agreement possible, though the rebels remained concerned about security arrangements, according to the negotiator.
The European Union’s executive Commission, which has been closely following the talks in the Nigerian capital, also said Thursday a deal was imminent and announced it would contribute $125 million for a humanitarian and initial recovery package.
Sudan appeared ready Wednesday to agree to faster disarmament of Arab militias in Darfur and to accept more rebels into its security forces, government spokesman Abdulrahman Zuma said.
Rebels had over the weekend rejected an initial peace proposal drafted by African Union mediators who have been working with the sides for two years.
That proposal, which was accepted by Khartoum called for a protection force for civilians in the immediate aftermath of the three-year-old war, but did not spell out its composition. The rebels want a joint protection force comprising rebels and government, African Union and U.N. forces.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick, British Cabinet member Hilary Benn and other international envoys stepped in to try to work out a compromise.
Since the Westerners’ arrival, the Sudanese government has shown increasing flexibility.
"Through this so-called American initiative, it seems that the government is going to make some concessions, especially about reintegration and disarmament," Zuma told AP on Wednesday.
The initial draft called for disarmament of the Arab militias known as Janjaweed, but did not specify how quickly that would accomplished or how many rebels would be absorbed into national security forces.
Two Sudanese rebels close to the negotiations, also declining to be identified until the new proposal is made official, said the revised draft addressed their demands for greater power and wealth sharing.
Zuma said the power and wealth sharing issues had been settled and were not open to discussion.
Earlier, Monro had said the rebels would press for the United Nations or another body to take over the peace talks if the initial proposal was not significantly changed.
African Union mediators have often expressed frustration at the seeming unwillingness of either side to compromise or adhere to a cease-fire declared in April 2004.
African Union spokesman Nouredine Mezni said African mediators had made "titanic efforts" to produce the draft proposal and any changes would have to be negotiated by other parties.
The U.S. and British officials appeared to step into that breach. They were sent to Abuja, the Nigerian capital where the talks are taking place, after thousands of Americans including several legislators protested over the weekend to demand an end to the slaughter in Darfur.
Decades of low-level tribal clashes over land and water in Darfur erupted into large-scale violence in early 2003 with rebels demanding regional autonomy. The central government is accused of responding by unleashing Janjaweed militias upon civilians, a charge Sudan denies.
(ST/AP)
(عدل بواسطة hala alahmadi on 05-04-2006, 05:30 PM)
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 Re: New peace proposal meets demands - Darfur rebels (Re: hala alahmadi)
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US proposals could bring agreement on Darfur peace plan
Friday 5 May 2006 00:18.
May 4, 2006 (ABUJA
Last-ditch proposals to salvage a peace agreement for Darfur help meet key rebel demands and could open the way to a deal, a rebel negotiator said Thursday, a day after Sudan’s government indicated the U.S.-proposed changes could be acceptable.
Four pages of revisions to the 85-page peace plan drawn up by African Union mediators offer concessions to the rebels on integrating fighters into the Sudan armed forces, on compensation for war victims and power-sharing.
They were presented to the warring parties Thursday afternoon, hours before a midnight make-or-break deadline already extended twice since Sunday.
"We are going to study them, but the improvements give us the sign that we can agree, that we do not need to renegotiate and that there will be no further delay for the final agreement," Jaffer Monro of the largest rebel Sudan Liberation Movement told The Associated Press.
"We hope that the Americans’ suggestion will be agreed upon," Sudanese government spokesman Abdulrahman Zuma told The Associated Press. On Wednesday, he said the U.S.-drafted revisions make an agreement possible.
African leaders in Abuja for a health conference were scheduled to hold a mini-summit with the warring parties Thursday evening, to add to pressure for an agreement that has mounted since the United States and Britain sent top envoys to Nigeria’s capital to help resolve an impasse after two years of staggered negotiations on Darfur.
Sudan’s government already had agreed to the initial proposal.
The envoys, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and Britain’s Cooperation Minister Hilary Benn, were not immediately available for comment.
The talks in the Nigerian capital are aimed at resolving a crisis in Darfur, in western Sudan, that has claimed at least 180,000 lives and forced more than 2 million people to flee their homes. Some 3 million people are living on the edge as the United Nations has cut food aid to below survival levels, strapped by cash and impeded by security from reaching needy victims.
The conflict erupted in 2003 when ethnic African farmers rebelled and armed groups emerged, accusing the Arabist central government of neglect and then of arming ethnic Arab nomads with whom they long have clashed over water and land. The central government denies that it arms the militias.
The conflict has spilled over into Chad, which accuses Sudan of helping rebels who attempted a failed coup last month, and into the Central African Republic, where rebel groups have emerged since fighting began in Darfur. Sudan borders nine countries including Libya and Egypt and the strategic Red Sea channel used to transport oil from the Middle East, so there are fears of a conflagration in the region.
Oil was discovered in Darfur and drilling began last year, creating complications and rivalries between Western countries, and between them and China, whose single largest source of foreign crude is Sudan.
Revisions to the peace plan made available to the AP call for 4,000 rebels to be integrated into Sudan’s armed forces and another 1,000 into the police force. In addition, 3,000 rebels would be given training and education at military colleges. The initial proposal mentioned no figures.
It also provides for rebels to comprise 33 percent of all newly integrated battalions nationwide, and 50 percent in areas to be agreed, notably Darfur.
Sudanese government spokesman Abdulrahman Zuma said Wednesday his government had considered integrating no more than 100 rebels into the armed forces, and that he expected a final agreement to rest somewhere between that figure and the proposed 4,000.
"Through this so-called American initiative, it seems that the government is going to make some concessions, especially about reintegration and disarmament," he said.
The disarmament refers to the Janjaweed Arab militia that is accused of some of the worst atrocities in Darfur. Sudan’s government denies that it arms Janjaweed and Zuma said his government was willing to agree to the new proposal for a speedy disarmament. The initial proposal was for them to be confined to barracks for an unspecified transitional period.
Other significant changes include giving the rebels 70 percent of all legislators’ seats in the three Darfurian provinces. It would be a major concession from Sudan’s government but still does not meet rebel demands for the position of second vice president in the central government instead of the proposed special adviser to the president, which would be the No. 4 instead of No. 3 position in the Khartoum government hierarchy.
Rebel negotiators said they remained concerned about security arrangements. The agreement calls for a protection force for civilians but does not detail its composition. They want a joint protection force including rebels and government, African Union and U.N. forces.
The rebels said only the United States had the power to win concessions from Sudan’s government, though it was unclear what bargaining chips were being used by Washington, which dispatched Zoellick after thousands of Americans protested in the United States over the weekend to demand an end to the slaughter in Darfur.
On Friday, Washington counted Sudan among six state sponsors of terror, even while it credited Khartoum with taking significant steps to cooperate in the global war on terror.
The U.N. Security Council a year ago authorized seizure of assets and a travel ban on individuals defying peace efforts or violating human rights law in Darfur. Those sanctions were imposed for the first time last week against a commander of the Sudanese air force, a Janjaweed militia leader and two rebel commanders.
As the talks progressed, U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland was preparing to go to Darfur. Last month, the Sudanese government barred Egeland from visiting Darfur and the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. But the U.N. envoy said the government has now invited him on a trip he plans to use to try to improve security for relief workers and war victims, to get more cooperation from the government and rebels for humanitarian work, and to appeal for immediate funding.
(ST/AP)
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