Al-Bashir launches Darfur peace initiative without rebels
Guardian Newspaper Friday, October 17, 2008
SUDANESE President Omar al-Bashir has launched his “people’s initiative” for peace in Darfur with an elaborate ceremony attended by regional dignitaries but no rebels involved in fighting.
The move, according to Agence France Presse (AFP), came as political opponents and victims of the conflict dismissed the initiative as dead in the water and a cynical attempt to keep the regime in power.
Rejected by 13 opposition parties and ridiculed by those living in militarized camps for the displaced, the so-called people’s initiative failed to rally a national consensus behind efforts to resolve the conflict.
It has rallied only Al-Bashir’s National Congress Party (NCP) and his coalition partners, chiefly the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, whose power depends on sticking to their own peace agreement with Khartoum.
“Despite the difficulties and the obstacles … we announce our resolve to find a definitive solution this time,” Al-Bashir told a large hall crammed with officials in the Sudanese capital.
“We call on all concerned parties to support the state’s efforts … for peace,” he said.
Numerous initiatives have been started to bring peace to the western Sudanese region since rebels there rose up against Khartoum almost six years ago, complaining of marginalisation, but all have failed.
Critics say Al-Bashir’s plan, which will involve talks on Friday and recommendations for peace on Saturday, is aimed at distracting attention from potential Darfur war crimes charges against him by the International Criminal Court.
“The fundamental solutions to the problem in Darfur … lie in its comprehensive and balanced development and a decentralised administrative system,” Al-Beshir said, promising 250 million dollars in aid for Darfur.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa warned that the initiative, boycotted by several Sudanese opposition parties and all active Darfur rebels, could not afford to fail.
“The invitation is extended to everyone, whatever their differences of opinion or position, to join the rest of their people and discuss Sudan’s problems with trust, frankly and transparently,” he said.
“I call on everyone to adopt the path of dialogue and distance themselves from the path of arms. I call on all those who bear arms to lay them down and head for dialogue.”
“This initiative cannot be allowed to fail.”
The African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) have deployed thousands of peacekeepers to Darfur, but are still thousands short of the projected 26,000-strong force.
Djibril Bassole, who in August became the first joint chief mediator for the AU-UN, told the assembly that “the African Union, the Arab League and the international community are all placing great hopes in your initiative.”
“Some observers have reserves on the capacity of this initiative to find effective solutions to resolve the Darfur question,” Djibril said, according to an Arabic translation broadcast on Sudan state television.
“These observers refer to the fact that leaders of armed movements are not present here.
“As mediator I invite you to guarantee that these discussions take into account everything that will lead to a dialogue with these movements.”
Minni Minawi, the head of the only Darfur rebel faction to have made peace with Khartoum, said Sudan was going through “exceptional circumstances which require everyone to unite their efforts to exit from the impasse.”
In October last year, UN-and AU-mediated talks on Darfur in the Libyan city of Sirte aimed at convincing key rebel leaders to join the peace talks quickly collapsed after the main rebel groups boycotted the event.
According to the United Nations, up to 300,000 people have died in Darfur and around 2.5 million have fled their homes since rebels rose up against Khartoum in February 2003. Sudan says 10,000 people have been killed.
The war began when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime and state-backed Arab militias, fighting for resources and power in one of the most remote and deprived places on earth.
Meanwhile, reports that Sudan detained militia leader Ali Kosheib for crimes in Darfur have been welcomed by the UN. “It is a “welcome step” toward ending impunity in the war-torn region, UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said on Wednesday.
“If confirmed, this is a welcome step towards the vital need to end impunity and bring to justice those responsible for crimes in Darfur,” she told a press briefing.
She said UN chief Ban Ki-moon had taken note of the reported development.
On Tuesday, Idris Suleiman, deputy head of Sudan’s mission in Cairo, said that Kosheib, the Khartoum-backed Janjaweed militia leader, would be brought to court in Darfur at a date set by a judge, “likely in the next week.”
Suleiman said Kosheib has been in custody for months, and that the probe accelerated after the justice ministry appointed a special prosecutor in August and access to witnesses became easier.
Thirteen cases of crimes in Darfur are being investigated, he said, although he declined to say how many suspects were involved.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), whose chief prosecutor is asking for a warrant for Al-Bashir, issued a warrant for Kosheib last year for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The court said Kosheib enlisted, armed, funded and supplied the Janjaweed militia and “personally participated in some of the attacks against civilians.”
The ICC also issued a warrant for Sudanese cabinet minister Ahmed Harun, but Suleiman said there had been no investigation of Harun in Sudan.
