Rebel leaders on Thursday accused the Sudanese government of pursuing an offensive in the western region of Darfur despite an earlier promise to rein in its troops in order to revive stalled peace talks.
Representatives of the rebel Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said in Abuja, Nigeria, that they will not return to African Union-sponsored negotiations until Khartoum calls off its alleged attack.
“The information I’m hearing now from our commanders in the field is that they’ve not stopped their attacks,” said Ibrahim Baha, an SLM spokesperson.
“Even as of this morning there are attacks in areas of Tawila, about 40km to the west of El-Fasher,” he said. “The government is using helicopter gunships and artillery. The Janjaweed is burning villages.”
The Janjaweed is a government-sponsored Arab militia that has been accused by the United Nations of carrying out murderous attacks on Darfur’s black African communities, who are suspected of supporting the rebel cause.
JEM’s chief negotiator, Mohammed Ahmed Tugod, confirmed the rebel position.
“Practically, there’s nothing on the ground to change our position,” he said when asked whether the rebels are ready to resume negotiations with Khartoum.
On Wednesday, the government promised the talks’ AU mediators that it will halt its latest offensive against insurgent areas of Darfur, which has been ravaged by conflict since the rebels launched an insurrection in February 2003.
AU officials said the commander of the AU peacekeeping force in Darfur, General Festus Okonkwo, would brief the Abuja delegates on the latest situation on the ground later on Thursday.
The international community has been pressuring both sides in the conflict to redouble their efforts to find a peaceful, political solution to the Darfur crisis through the Abuja talks process, but progress has been slow. — Sapa-AFP
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