Alleged dissidents from a holdout Darfur rebel group may sign a peace pact for the troubled Sudanese region, diplomats said on Wednesday, as an African Union deadline loomed for the deal’s acceptance.
A group claiming to represent a splinter faction of Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) arrived at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, seeking to meet officials just hours before the midnight expiration of the deadline, they said.
AU Peace and Security Council commissioner Said Djinnit confirmed that a number of Darfur minority groups, including members of the JEM, have contacted the pan-African body to say they want to sign the deal.
”We have been approached by a certain number of groups who are favourable to the DPA,” he told reporters, referring to the Darfur peace agreement.
”Until the expiration of the deadline, we are hopeful the leaders of the [holdout] rebel groups will sign the peace deal,” he said.
”After the deadline expires, the African Union will adopt a common position on the whole question, including how to deal with those who didn’t sign and options for factions who would like to join the agreement,” he said.
The identities of the alleged JEM dissidents were not immediately clear, but diplomats said they are ready to sign the May 5 peace agreement, which was already signed by a faction of Darfur’s Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM).
”The dissident faction members of the JEM came here to sign, but they cannot sign today unless their leaders come,” an African diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
”If their leaders don’t show up, they are hoping to sign tomorrow if the AU will accept their signature as a faction,” a second African diplomat said. ”The AU is now looking at some mechanism to accept the signature of the faction.”
The diplomats said the leaders of the group — whose identities were also not immediately clear — were expected in Addis Ababa late on Wednesday or Thursday.
Earlier, JEM spokesperson Mohammed Tirgani said in Khartoum that the group will not sign the deal unless significant changes are made.
The AU has given the JEM and the holdout SLM group until May 31 to sign the deal or face sanctions it says it will impose and ask the United Nations Security Council to copy.
The groups have refused to sign the accord that is aimed at ending three years of conflict in Darfur, which has left about 300 000 people dead and 2,4-million homeless. They say the deal fails to address their concerns fully. — Sapa-AFP