Sudan calls for all sides to resume Darfur talks

2009-11-15

Aide to Sudan's Beshir says no one person should have right of veto over possible peace deal.

PARIS - An aide to Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on Saturday called for all sides to take part in talks aimed at ending the Darfur conflict, which are due to resume in Qatar.

Ghazi Salaheddine told reporters at the Sudanese embassy in Paris that no one person should have a right of veto over a possible peace deal -- a reference to a former rebel leader currently in exile in the French capital.

Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur, the ex-leader of the Sudanese Liberation Army, is refusing to take part in discussions due to resume in Doha in a few days.

In February an agreement was struck between the Darfuri rebel Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudanese government, which opened the way to a prisoner exchange and eventual peace conference.

Salaheddine also said he had had talks with high-ranking French officials with a view to improving and strengthening relations between Sudan and France.

The question of Beshir's presence at an Africa-France summit in Egypt next year was not discussed, he said.

The Sudanese leader is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Darfur.

Critics say the ICC warrant singles out weak states like Sudan, while taking a hypocritical stance towards countries like the US and Israel by ignoring worse atrocities committed by them, and by not charging American and Israeli officials with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003, when rebels took up arms against the government in Khartoum and its allies.

Over the last six years, the rebels have fractured into multiple movements, fraying rebel groups, banditry, flip-flopping militias and the war has widened into overlapping tribal conflicts.

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease and more than 2.7 million fled their homes.

Many of the rebels enjoy direct and indirect foreign support that helped fuel the conflict, with some critics pointing the finger at France, which has a military presence in neighboring Chad – also accused of arming the Sudanese rebels.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=35692.