Darfur seems hell-bent on regaining its appellation earned two years ago as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Three African Union peacekeepers and two contractors attached to the force were killed, recently — the first fatalities for the 6 600 strong continental force in the troubled west of Sudan. Forty more peacekeepers were abducted and subsequently released.
The culprits are a dissident group that has broken away from the Sudanese Liberation Movement, the largest rebel group in Darfur. It would appear that both the militia and the rebels are acting beyond the control of their backers.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has admitted, “if the situation in Darfur persists, it may have a negative impact on the implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement which is now moving forward between the north and the south”.
Dr Tim Othieno, a senior researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue, believes the main actors are in fact the Khartoum administration and the former rebel Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM), which is now its partner in government.
“They’re not engaged in the Darfur peace process and there’s no hope of progress until they are. It’s common cause that the Sudanese government backs the Janjaweed militia responsible for attacks on the Darfur population, while elements within the SPLM support and supply the Darfur rebels.
“These two groups need to be talking about developments in Darfur and they’re not saying much. They need to come out and say in no uncertain terms that enough is enough.
“If it doesn’t work, they might have to back up strong talk with punitive action. Until they do, there can be no progress.”
Hopes for the region picked up when talks between the government of Omar El Bashir and the Darfur rebels resumed in Abuja, Nigeria. But these have made no progress.
When UN adviser on the prevention of genocide, Juan Mendez, returned from his visit to Darfur, he reported that “the situation is much more dangerous and worrisome than I expected it to be”.
He was referring to the slaying of 35 civilians and destruction of several houses and huts in the region where more than 250 000 people have been killed and two million people displaced.
The United States, China, Algeria and Russia blocked a briefing that Mendez was due to give the UN Security Council.
John Bolton, the US ambassador to the world body, said that the situation calls for action and not words.