يا ثوار دارفور .. أتحدوا

Quote: Darfur rebels slam UN refusal to fly them to Darfur from Juba Tuesday 23 October:30. Printer-Friendly version Comments... October 22, 2007 (JUBA) — A Darfur rebel faction accused the UN mediation team of refusing to fly them back to their field base in Darfur from Juba in order to force them to go directly to Libya to attend the forthcoming peace talks. (JPEG) Leaders of Sudan Rebel Groups Meet UN, AU Special Envoys for Darfur in Um Rai, Sudan Feb 14, 2007. (UN) A commander from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Unity faction accused the UN mediation team of keeping them in Juba where they were holding consultations sponsored by the government of southern Sudan. Commander Adam Idriss Khatir, one of the SLM-Unity delegates to the meeting told Sudan Tribune from Juba that Hideo Ikabe, a Japanese national and the UNMIS contact officer with Darfur rebel groups, refused to transport them back to their bases in Darfur and wanted to fly them directly to Libya for Sirte talks. Idriss said they needed to hold consultations with their leadership before going to Libya. He add that their mission as delegation is limited to participating in the Juba meeting after which they have to report back to their leadership on the outcome of the meeting. However, he reiterated the commitment of his group to the peace talks but condemned the methods of UN personal. Darfur rebel factions have gathered last week in Juba in a meeting organized by the southern Sudan ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. Only the SLM founder, Abdelwahid al-Nur, didn’t attend the meeting. International experts estimate 200,000 have died in the Darfur conflict and 2.5 million driven from their homes in 4-1/2 years of fighting. The rebel commander slammed the conduct of UN officials who came to the meeting distributing invitations for Sirte peace talks scheduled to begin on October 27, while discussing SPLM proposals to reunite rebel movements. "We were very close to reaching an agreement and they [UN officials] came to sabotage SPLM efforts for the reunification of the movements." Idriss said. The mediation team today in Juba distributed invitations to all the rebel groups to attend the talks. They invited most of the SLM and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) factions. The mediation team dedicated 5 places for the delegations of Khalil Ibrahim JEM and Abdelwahid al-Nur SLM, the other rebel groups obtained between 4 and 2 places on the table of negotiations people familiar with the matter told Sudan Tribune. During the week long meeting, the SPLM worked with the rebel groups on a plan to form a unified delegation to negotiate with Khartoum with two #########; one from SLM, Abdelwahid al-Nur and the other from JEM, Khalil Ibrahim. The meeting had decided to send a delegation to meet SLM leader in Paris. The rebel commander wondered "why the UN staff tries to prevent our unity and appear very keen to bring us divided to the table of talks." "Why are they sabotaging the SPLM initiative at this stage?" he added. (ST)