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/ 19 October 2006
A new Darfur rebel alliance is ready for talks with the government but demands self-determination for the war-torn, arid west of the country, senior rebel leaders said on Thursday. A May peace accord was signed by only one of three negotiating rebel factions and tens of thousands of war victims have rejected it.
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/ 18 October 2006
Darfur rebels called on a former ally to rejoin their ranks on Wednesday as a top United Nations envoy said the government had lost two major battles in the western region, with reports of ”very high” losses. Sudan’s government signed a peace accord in May with one of three rebel factions.
About 200 United Nations military and civilian staff will deploy to Darfur to support an African Union peace monitoring mission after Khartoum rejected a plan to send thousands of UN troops into western Sudan. A joint UN-AU letter to President Omar Hassan al-Bashir outlined 109 UN military support, 23 logistical staff, 33 UN police advisors and 25 civilian support staff to be sent to Darfur.
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/ 4 September 2006
Sudan will allow African Union troops to remain in its turbulent Darfur region but only if their AU mandate was extended beyond September 30 and not as part of a United Nations force, a presidential adviser said on Monday. Sudan has raised alarms that its turbulent west could descend into full-blown war.
The United States and Britain plan to push for a vote on a United Nations resolution sending peacekeeping troops to Darfur, despite a fresh rejection by Sudan on Tuesday of any deployment of UN troops there. The US and British sponsored resolution would authorise the deployment of 20 000 UN troops and police in Darfur to take over from about 7 000 African Union troops.
Sudanese Islamist leaders say they will take up arms against United Nations peacekeepers if they deploy to Darfur, and some have warned they will also fight the Khartoum government if it agrees to the force. The threats conjure up a disturbing image of more bloodshed in the western Darfur region, where tens of thousands of people have been killed in more than three years of conflict.
July was the most dangerous month for humanitarian workers in Sudan’s Darfur region and afforded the worst access to those in need since conflict began three-and-a-half years ago, aid agencies said on Tuesday. Violence in refugee camps sheltering 2,5-million people in Darfur has rocketed since an unpopular peace deal was signed in May.
Sudanese government forces and allied militias attacked bases of a new rebel alliance in Darfur despite a ceasefire in the violent west, officials and rebels said on Saturday. An unpopular African Union-mediated peace deal was signed in May by only one of three rebel negotiating factions.