Agence France-Presse,
JUBA, Sudan: Six rebel factions from the war-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur said Tuesday they would boycott peace talks in Libya this week because the Khartoum government has no legitimacy.
“We are not going to Libya because we feel the government does not have the necessary legitimacy to negotiate” after southern ex-rebels withdrew from the unity government, spokesman for the six groups Issam al-Haj told journalists.
Haj was speaking in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba, where the United Nations and the African Union had been hosting the Darfur rebels in a bid to agree a unified position ahead of Saturday's talks in Sirte, Libya.
The preliminary talks were an initiative of the head of the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement, Salva Kiir, whose SPLM signed a peace deal with Khartoum in 2005 that ended Africa's longest running civil war.
But the SPLM on October 11 withdrew from the unity government complaining the President Omar al-Beshir and his ruling National Congress Party had failed to apply crucial elements of the 2005 peace deal.
The six recalcitrant groups are different factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army under the command of Ahmed Abdel Shafi, Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim, Jar al-Nabi Abdel Karim and Mohammed Aki Kelai as well as the Northern Command faction and another group of west Darfuri rebels.
However, the SLM/A faction of Khamis Abdallah Bakr said it would attend the Sirte talks.
Haj said that the fact the Khartoum government had made no goodwill gestures ahead of the Sirte talks had convinced the rebels not to attend.
Instead, Haj said, Khartoum forces had continued to attack rebels in Darfur, citing in particular an attack earlier this month on the displaced persons camp of Kalma in south Darfur, the violence wracked region's largest.
Beshir had in September said during a visit to Italy that he would initiate a ceasefire at the start of the Libyan talks.
“As a result, the atmosphere is not suitable for negotiations,” Haj said. “The international community should set about protecting civilians in Darfur instead of threatening (rebel) groups with sanctions.”
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte in September raised the possibility of sanctions against rebels who failed to attend the talks.
“If an important rebel group chooses not to attend, not to send a representative, that should not be a cost-free choice,” he said.
Visiting AU Commission chief Alpha Oumar Konare on Tuesday reiterated Khartoum's determination “for Sirte to be a big success” after meeting Beshir.
“We hope that all our other Sudanese brothers have the same inclination and what we're hearing is that all these brothers are determined to work toward winning the peace,” Konare told journalists in Khartoum.
“It's time for peace, it's the moment for peace and we cannot lose time. We no longer have the right to lose time given the damage that we can see,” he said.
More than two million people have fled their homes and at least 200,000 have died from the combined effects of famine and conflict since Khartoum enlisted militia allies to put down a revolt in 2003, according to the United Nations.
