RARE INTERVIEW: Sheik Musa Hilal, leader of Um Jalul tribe in his hometown of Mistariha, Darfur (Lydia Polgreen)

Copy of interview "Over Tea, Sheik Denies Stirring Darfur's Torment" by Lydia Polgreen, New York Times (via The Ledger) June 12, 2006:

MISTARIHA, Sudan - Their camouflage uniforms bear no insignia. Their machine guns lack the brassy patina of long use. Instead of boots, most wear sandals or flip-flops. The armed men swarming this mysterious town, usually off limits to foreigners, look almost, but not quite, like soldiers. Their allegiance does not appear to be to any military commander, but to a tall, copper-skinned man in a white robe and turban named Musa Hilal.

Mr Hilal, the sheik who the State Department and human rights organizations say is an architect and perhaps the key leader of the fearsome Arab militias that have unleashed a torrent of misery in Darfur, laughed softly at the question of who these armed men were. "They are soldiers," he replied with an easy smile in a rare interview here. "Just regular soldiers."

But the commander of the African Union peacekeeping base two dozen miles away, Col. John Bosco Mulisa, said there was little doubt who these men really were. "They are janjaweed," he said, using the local term for the Arab militias. "This town is their headquarters."

Whoever their commander is and whatever they are called, these men and the weapons they carry will determine whether, after three years of conflict that has left at least 200,000 dead, the fragile efforts to bring peace to this shattered region will succeed or fail.

"The greatest threat to this peace agreement right now is the janjaweed," said a senior military intelligence officer with the African Union who is not authorized to speak publicly. "It is not clear what is in it for them or how it serves their interests to disarm. No one is sure what they will do or who exactly controls them."

The first and most critical step of that agreement, signed in May between the government in Khartoum and the largest rebel faction, is the disarmament of the janjaweed. The government pledged to submit a plan to disarm the militias of their heavy weaponry one month after signing the agreement and to finish the job before the end of October. But how do you disarm a phantom army whose sponsors and leaders deny its existence? And exactly who are the janjaweed and is it within the government's power to disarm them? "Who are the janjaweed?" asked Eltayeb Hag Ateya, director of the Peace Research Institute at the University of Khartoum. "It depends on what you mean and who you ask."

The term itself has long been used to refer to highwaymen and bandits from tribes living across Sudan's western border in Chad who roamed the vast, semi desert plains of Darfur, robbing Arabs and non-Arabs, nomads and farmers. But the word came to have a new meaning after rebels attacked a government outpost in Darfur in 2003, sparking the conflict that would engulf the region and eventually spill into Chad.

The militias that came to be known as the janjaweed were deployed as a kind of counterinsurgency proxy force that the government used in place of and sometimes alongside its military. It had used such Arab militias with brutal success in the 20-year civil war in the south. These fighters were paid a small stipend, but their greatest reward was the right to loot and seize livestock and land from the Fur and Zaghawa, non-Arab tribes from which the rebels drew their ranks.

The chief figure in the deployment of these militias, according to the State Department and human rights organizations, was Mr Hilal, who leads a powerful Arab tribe in Darfur called Um Jalul.

Long before the war began, Mr Hilal wielded control over a fearsome tribal militia, and because of his deep connections to the Arab elite of Khartoum, he was the first tribal leader the government turned to when the insurgency among non-Arab tribes began, human rights investigators say.

He responded to the call by summoning recruits to enlarge his militia to thousands of men, who were trained and equipped in vast barracks here in Mistariha. Soon, this dusty village nestled between a pair of mountains was a beehive of military activity, with truckloads of recruits and helicopters full of weapons and other supplies arriving daily. Platoons of armed men on camels and horseback arrived constantly, their animals weighed down with loot, according to witness accounts collected by human rights groups. At the center of it all was Mr. Hilal, the witnesses said, directing and rallying his troops and urging them to plunder.

Officially, the town was called the headquarters of the government's Border Intelligence Unit, though it is about 120 miles from the nearest border, with Chad.

In Mistariha, Mr Hilal took pains to explain that he was not a militia leader, merely an influential sheik. In a two-hour interview over a lunch of grilled meats and tea near a bustling market, Mr Hilal said repeatedly that the Arab militias he was accused of commanding simply did not exist.

"It is a lie," he said. "Janjaweed is a thief. A criminal. I am a tribal leader, with men and women and children who follow me. How can they all be thieves and bandits? It is not possible."

He said there were no tensions here between Arabs and non-Arabs. By way of demonstration, he ordered one of his soldiers to round up a group of market women. When the women arrived, cowering under their bright robes as Mr Hilal hovered over them, one by one said there were no tensions here.

"I am a Fur," said Fatouma, a woman who sells millet in the market, naming the largest non-Arab tribe in the region. Her eyes avoided Mr Hilal's imperious glare. "We get along with the Arabs fine," she added, before begging to be allowed to return to her market stall.

"See!" Mr. Hilal exclaimed to his foreign visitors. "We have no problems here. We live together in peace."

But in much of his territory the only peace is the peace of a graveyard. The road leading here from the nearby town of Kebkabiyah tells another story new Arab villages line the road, while old Fur and Zaghawa villages are burned-out husks.

In one Zaghawa village, bullet holes scar a crumbling schoolhouse. All the thatch roofs have been burned away, and rain and desert winds have worn the walls of the decapitated huts down to mere suggestions of habitation. In time, even those will disappear, leaving no trace of the Zaghawa.

Mr Hilal's claim that he has no control over any militia does not bear scrutiny, said Alex de Waal, an Africa scholar who studies Sudan. "He is at the center of all of this," Mr de Waal said.

In letters to government officials and other tribal leaders, Mr Hilal has repeatedly said his fighters are engaged in a jihad, or holy war, and will not disarm even if the government demands it.

"We will not retreat," he wrote in one such letter in 2004 to the leaders in Khartoum. "We continue on the road of jihad." Trying to disarm his men, he wrote, would be "cowardly," and impossible to enforce.

Another communique from Mr Hilal's headquarters in 2004, obtained by Mr de Waal, demanded that the militias "change the demography of Darfur and empty it of African tribes."

The janjaweed so far have not respected the new peace agreement, attacking rebel-held towns in the area of Kutum in northern Darfur and Shearia in South Darfur, killing dozens of people.

Indeed, the Arab militias did not sign the peace agreement. They were represented, after a fashion, by the government, which has steadily denied their existence. Even so, one of the assumptions of the agreement was that the government had control over the Arab militias and the power to disarm them. This is based on a deeper assumption that the interests of Darfur's Arabs would be tended to by Khartoum. Neither is turning out to be true.

"If you ask me where my allegiance lies, with the government or with Darfur, I will have to tell you Darfur," Mr. Hilal said.

This is not the first time the government has promised to disarm the Arab militias. It pledged during seven separate rounds of peace talks over the past three years to neutralize them but has failed to do so. These failures have met with no sanction, so there is little confidence the government will take action now.

"Frankly it is the weakest link in an otherwise deeply flawed agreement," said John Prendergast of the International Crisis Group, an organization that studies violent conflicts. "It leaves intact the same promise the international community has relied upon, and that is that the government is principally responsible for reining in and otherwise neutralizing the murderous militias. It hasn't happened before and there is no new reason why it would happen now."

For some time, the government has been simply integrating the janjaweed militias into its official paramilitary Popular Defense Forces and the regular army, Mr Prendergast said. That process is likely to speed up in the coming months as negotiations continue over whether Sudan will allow a United Nations peacekeeping force to take over the understaffed and underfinanced African Union mission here.

If the alliance of convenience between the Arab militias and the government crumbles, there is little incentive for the militias to play along. Under the peace agreement, they are likely to lose control of land they stole, and there are deep fears that Arabs will be subjugated by the small but influential Zaghawa tribe, which leads the most powerful faction of the rebels.

"There is going to be a lot of conflict between the government and some of the Arab leaders," Mr Prendergast said. "But the government built the Frankenstein monster and now they have got to deal with it."



Photo: Sheikh Musa Hilal, a Sudanese chief who heads Darfur's largest Arab tribe, is seen inside a small shop in Mistariha, Sudan, May 23, 2006. (Reuters/STR/Sudan Watch archive)

Sudan and Chad now openly support rebel activities on their respective terrorities UNHCR tells UN Security Council delegation in Chad

Reuters report by Evelyn Leopold, CAMP GOUROUKOUN June 11, 2006:

French military aircraft flew the 15-nation Security Council delegation in Chad from N'Djamena, the capital, to Abeche in the east and then to Goz Beida, about 100 km (62 miles) from the Sudan border.

Half the delegation visited a camp for 10,000 Chadians who fled attacks in their villages.

The rest went to the Djabal Refugee camp of 14,000 Sudanese refugees, who lined the road with signs protesting the May 5 Darfur peace accord between the government and two rebel groups.

"We have been attacked by the Janjaweed. We have become widows. Our girls have been raped and our men killed. Our properties were destroyed," said Hanne Adam Ali, in a presentation to the UN group and about 1,000 displaced people.

Security is dreadful for many Sudanese camp dwellers and relief workers, said Ana Liria-France, the UNHCR representative in Chad. The rebel Sudan Liberation Army has forcibly recruited young men and boys. Even teachers in the camp are recruiting.

Deby wants an international peacekeeping force, which the Security Council plans to send to Darfur. But the council has not figured out how to deal with Chad's own crisis.

"The main requirement here is there should be better policing in the camps," Britain's U.N. Ambassador Jones Parry said after the council members spent two hours with Deby in N'Djamena. "It's a policing effort rather more than the sort of mission that is necessary in Darfur."

France has some 1,000 military personnel in its former colony, nearly all in the air force but its UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said they would not be policing the camps, although "we will do our share" if there was an international response.

To add to the misery, Sudan now has aligned itself with warlords in Chad as part of its counter-insurgency strategy in Darfur.

"Both countries now openly support rebel activities on their respective territories," UNHCR said in briefing notes for council members.

Photo: A tribal representative speaks to members of the UN Security Council at the Gouroukoun camp for Internally Displaced Persons, in Goz Beida, Chad, June 10, 2006, for people who have fled their homes in eastern Chad after fighting has spilled across the border from Sudan. The UN Security Council is touring on a fact finding mission about the situation in Darfur. REUTERS/Chip East (CHAD)

Sudan and Darfur: The problem is political (Fathi M. El Fadl)

Fathi M. El Fadl, a member of the Sudanese Communist Party's international affairs committee, has an opinion piece at Political Affairs Magazine today that takes issue with many western media reports. El Fadl says the crisis in Sudan is not one of race or ethnicity (Arab vs. African), but a political and economic one that requires political and economic solutions, and, quote:

Sudan's colonial legacy cannot be blamed for today's problems. It is 50 years since the British left the Sudan. The problem is that Sudan is 10 times worse than when the British left. Those who took power either through democratic election or military means failed the people of the Sudan miserably. [Edit]

For those in other countries wishing to express solidarity with the Sudanese people, the most important action is to explain the political ramifications of the crisis of Darfur, both domestic and international, and the real way out, as described here.

What Sudan really fears is UN troops may be used to arrest officials and militia likely to be indicted by the ICC investigating war crimes in Darfur

Senior UN and AU officials opened unprecedented talks in Khartoum today, to convince the government to accept UN peacekeeping troops in Darfur, Reuters reported - excerpt:

"The United Nations never imposes itself on any country," UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno told reporters after the joint team met Foreign Minister Lam Akol.

"All our peacekeeping operations in Africa are deployed with the cooperation of the host country."

Guehenno's heading of the joint U.N.-AU technical mission was unprecedented, UN officials said. His counterpart in the African Union, Said Djinnit, headed his delegation.

Sudan rejects UN transition in Darfur, painting the picture of a Western invasion that would attract jihadi militants. Al Qaeda Islamist Ayman al-Zawahri on Friday criticised a "spineless" Khartoum for even allowing the assessment mission to enter Sudan.

Akol said military and other technical experts from the team would be leaving for Darfur on Tuesday. Asked if the Sudanese government's position had changed, he said: "Any decisions of any sort will be taken after that," referring to the team's trip to Darfur.

The joint mission will return to Khartoum for further talks after visiting Darfur. The mission, which arrived on Friday, is expected to last around 18 days.

Akol said the joint team could not tell Khartoum what the mandate and aim of a possible U.N. mission in Darfur would be until after they had visited the region and assessed what was required.

But the United Nations would have to move fast. The AU has a mandate only until September 30 and is struggling to find funds to sustain the mission until then.

Asked if the AU mandate could be extended, Djinnit said it was too early to say. "It depends ... how soon the United Nations will be ready to take over ... once all the conditions are met for that mission to take over the African mission in Sudan (AMIS)," he said.

The mission's more pressing role is to assess what extra the AU needs ahead of transition to help implement a May 5 Darfur peace deal. It will likely send at least 3,000 more troops.

"It has to do with what needs to be done as a matter of urgency for AMIS to be able to perform its responsibilities," Djinnit said of the team's visit.

"It has huge responsibilities to maintain peace and to help in the implementation of the Darfur peace agreement," he said.

Important note: The report points out that analysts say what Sudan really fears is UN troops may be used to arrest officials or militia leaders likely to be indicted by the International Criminal Court investigating war crimes in Darfur. This is what I believe all the fear is really based on. Can you blame them? Me neither. Somehow, I believe the politicians will find a way of dropping the ICC stick by using it as a trade off for agreeing peace, disarmament and reconciliation using local traditions and customs.

Al-Qaeda criticised Khartoum as "spineless" for allowing UN-AU assessment mission into Sudan

A report by Reuters Opheera McDoom today, points out that Al-Qaeda criticised Khartoum as "spineless" for allowing UN-AU assessment mission into Sudan. And the Malaysia Sun tells us al-Qaeda's deputy discussed Egypt, where he is from, and Darfur:

Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's deputy, made a brief appearance on al-Jazeera TV Friday mentioning Iraqi insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi but not his death.

The BBC said al-Zawahiri's main topic was the referendum on statehood by Palestinians, which he said should be rejected by Muslims.

He also discussed the political situation in Egypt, where he's from and the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan.

He praised al-Zarqawi but making no mention of his death indicated the tape was made before the U.S. air strike Wednesday that killed the Iraqi insurgent leader.

Darfur: "If a UN force is sent here, I will call for jihad," warned Muwad Jalalabin, chief of the Barty tribe

At long last, we are hearing news of the tribal leaders in Sudan. A BBC report today reveals UN ambassadors in Sudan have met with strong opposition from tribal leaders to the deployment of troops in Darfur, including threats of holy war. Excerpt:

Khartoum has made clear that it would prefer the AU peacekeepers to be given more support rather than allow a UN force into the region.

UN officials have stressed they want to work alongside the Sudanese government and not take over peacekeeping efforts.

Tribal chiefs in Darfur have also expressed resistance to the idea.

"If a UN force is sent here, I will call for jihad," warned Muwad Jalalabin, chief of the Barty tribe.

Any deployment of non-African forces in the region would be considered as "foreign occupation", he told the reporters in el-Fasher, the main town in north Darfur.

Osman Kebir, governor of northern Darfur, also voiced opposition to the UN proposal, telling the Reuters news agency that the region needed humanitarian assistance but "not troops".

Their comments came as members of Security Council delegation toured Darfur and met with tribal leaders, relief workers and government officials over the proposal.

My hopes are that the African Union Mission in Darfur receives all the support it needs from the UN and NATO, with permission from Khartoum. Tribal leaders run the Janjaweed. Only they can sort it out. It's time they stepped up to the plate. My guess is Khartoum can't manage it otherwise they would have done it by now because of all the billions of dollars staked on peace. The world is watching. We need to hear more from the tribal leaders, their point of view and what it is they can do to help the millions of defenceless women and children in Sudan and Chad - and resolve the battles over drinking water, land and livestock.

UN Security Council, in Darfur, finds opposition

Tribal leaders on Friday rejected the possibility of UN peacekeepers replacing African Union (AU) forces in Darfur, with one chief threatening a "holy war" if non-African troops come to the Sudanese region, AFP (Edith Lederer) reported June 9 - excerpt:

Mowadh Jalaladin, a representative of the Barty tribe which he said has about 250,000 members, said handing over to a UN force "would inaugurate foreign occupation and intervention" and remind Sudanese of their colonial past, echoing earlier government rhetoric that has fanned anti-UN sentiment.

The cry also has been taken up by Islamic militants.

The Al-Jazeera satellite channel on Friday broadcast a videotape by the deputy leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahri, in which he said the UN Security Council visit to Sudan was "to prepare to occupy and divide it." In a tape aired on Arab television in April, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden urged followers to fight any U.N. peacekeeping force in Sudan.

If a UN force comes to Darfur, Jalaladin said, "we are declaring jihad against it.

"It means death. It means defending Sudan and Islam," Jalaladin said.

"The root causes of the Darfur conflict are the doing of the Jewish organizations who financed this armed rebellion," he claimed. "We don't want the Security Council to be an instrument of the ugly undertakings of the United States of America."

Another tribal chief, Barwd Dusa, took a much more moderate stance but still favored keeping African troops in this vast western region about the size of France.

"We would like for the United Nations to help the African Union in supporting the troops of the African Union in order to enforce the peace agreement on the ground," said Dusa, who claims his Zagawa tribe also has about 250,000 people.

With the May 5 agreement "our lives changed, we changed, our mind-set changed and we are feeling more reassured and we celebrated ... ," he said. "The overwhelming majority of the population of Darfur in general wants peace."

He urged the two rebel groups refusing to sign the agreement to drop their opposition "because we cannot take any more war and any more instability."

Ibrahim Abdurazig, leader of North Darfur's National Youth Association, also called for the rebel holdouts to sign the agreement and for an "African solution."

The African Union force "respects the customs and moral values" of the Darfur people, "and they don't want any foreigners to meddle," he said.

The 15 council ambassadors were greeted at the airport by over 100 government officials and tribal leaders dressed in traditional white robes and turbans and colorfully dressed women shouting "Alahu Akbar," or "God is Great."

Osman Yusouf Kibir, the governor of North Darfur, told reporters that the Darfur leaders had agreed with the council on many issues and welcomed its support.

Asked about Jalaladin's threat of "jihad," or holy war, he said the possibility of a UN force was being discussed and "we fully respect what transpires out of the interaction between the government and the international community."

Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, who is leading the delegation, said the council is trying to make sure the peace agreement is implemented and that conditions in Darfur improve.

"What is vital is that there should be a rapid improvement in the security situation here, especially for the women, and that the humanitarian access must be better assured," he said.

See June 9 2006 DPA report: UN peacekeepers not wanted: Darfuri leaders

Joint UN-AU team of 40 arrive in Khartoum today to begin planning for strengthening AU Mission in Darfur

A United Nations mission arrived in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, today to begin planning for the deployment of UN peacekeepers to end three years of fighting in the western region of Darfur, Bloomberg reported June 9 - excerpt:

The team of 40 people from the UN and the African Union is being led by Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno and will visit Darfur and hold talks with senior government officials over a period of 18 days, said Jim Landale, a spokesman for the UN mission.

"The goal of the mission is to look at what can be done to strengthen the African Union force mission now and plan for a possible takeover by a United Nations peacekeeping mission," Landale said today in an interview in Khartoum.

The peace deal gives the rebels the right to appoint a senior assistant to the president, formally the fourth-highest position in government, and one state governor in Darfur and two deputy governors. They also have 12 seats in the National Assembly. Regional elections are to be held within three years.

The government committed itself to disarm militias known as the Janjaweed by mid-October, to integrate former rebel fighters into the armed forces, and to contribute $700 million to a regional development fund in the next three years.

UN Security Council mission visits S Sudan for talks on CPA, Darfur rebels and LRA

On June 8, 2006 UN Security Council members met with southern Sudanese President Salva Kiir, First Vice-President Riek Machar and other senior officials for discussions that focused on the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Sudanese government and the rebels of western Sudan's Darfur region.

They also discussed the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army. Full report UN News Centre June 8, 2006.

AU says four Darfur faction leaders back peace agreement

The leaders were named as Abdel Rahman Musa Abbaker (chief negotiator for the SLM/A Abdul Wahid), Ibrahim Madibo (chief negotiator for the SLM/A Abdul Wahid for power-sharing), Ustaz Abdel Raheem Adam Abdel Raheem Abu Risha (general secretary for JEM, Southern Darfur) and Commander Adam Saleh Abbaker (representative of the military commanders of SLM/A Abdul Wahid).

Full report DPA via ReliefWeb June 9, 2006 [hat tip Coalition for Darfur]

Jun 9 2006 VOA President of new rebel faction "JEM Aburisha" is Abdurahman Adam Abdurahman Aburish

Jun 9 2006 AFP Abdurahman Musa Abbakar leads splinter wing of Nur's SLM

Staunch American liberal interventionist rethinks Darfur after reading David Rieff"s "Moral Blindness: The Case Against Troops for Darfur"

Excerpt from blog entry at Voices on Genocide Prevention June 7, 2006:

Anne-Marie Slaughter has a rather unsettling blog entry at TPM Cafe. She's the Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton and widely regarded as a brilliant thinker on international relations. But in this entry she states that although she previously has supported NATO intervention in Darfur, David Rieff's recent piece in the New Republic gave her pause. He pointed out some of the complexities involved in Western intervention, leading her to conclude that "we need to rethink where and how we apply that pressure" on the Government of Sudan.

Excerpt from blog entry Rethinking Darfur by Anne-Marie Slaughter:

I have been a staunch liberal interventionist on issues like Darfur. Lee, Ivo and I all participated (with Tod Lindberg) on the working group of the 2005 UN-US Task Force charged with looking at policy toward Darfur and all strongly recommended a UN Resolution authorizing NATO support of AU efforts and failing that, direct NATO intervention. I have also been a strong supporter of Nick Kristoff's repeated calls for action.

But two items in the last week have given me pause. First is from David Rieff, whom John and I have debated before on this site. David has a strong and thought-provoking piece in the The New Republic entitled "Moral Blindness."

- - -

May 28 2006 Moral Blindness: The Case Against Troops for Darfur (by David Rieff) - and "How to avoid another Iraqi quagmire in Sudan."

May 31 2006 Sudan Watch Nasty Eric 'insurgent loving' Reeves uses his poison pen to hurl insults at David Rieff (and everyone else except the rebels)

UN peacekeepers not wanted: Darfuri leaders

Local leaders from northern Darfur have threatened that UN peacekeepers may face violence if they enter the region as part of a peacekeeping force, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported June 9, 2006. Excerpt:

Their remarks followed a meeting between the governor of north Darfur and a 15-member delegation from the UN Security Council, which arrived in the Darfur on Friday, following a visit to the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

"The people here are Muslims and they don't want international intervention here because it complicates the local traditions," local council member Ali Tango told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"The people don't want foreigners to come in here," Tango told dpa. "Look at how Afghanistan and Iraq deteriorated."

In reality, a UN mission would likely be a re-hatting of the African Union (AU) force presently on the ground.

"The Security Council will do everything possible to insure that a UN mission with the consent of the government of Sudan comes to Darfur as soon as possible," head of the delegation Emyr Parry-Jones told reporters following his meeting with Governor Yousef Osman Kibir.

Delegates also met with representatives of some 2 million displaced Darfuris who are currently languishing in refugee camps. They did not however, visit the camps in this area themselves.

Darfur SLM-Nur urges UN to protect Darfur refugees

Sudan Tribune report June 9, 2006 - excerpt:

The Rebel Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdelwahid al-Nur welcomed the Security Council visit to the refugee camps in Sudanese Darfur and Chad, the SLM urged the United Nations to protect the affected Darfur civilians.

In a press release issued Thursday the SLM-al-Nur renewed its rejection for the African Union brokered peace deal signed on 5 May between the Sudanese government and the SLM-Minawi faction. The rebel group repeated appeals for UN mediation to settle Darfur conflict.

The SLM also raises for the first time the question the, Tribal Lands Ownership, and call for its reinstallation.

Below the text of the SLM/A Press Satement

See Full report. Note, Press Statement signed by Jaffer Monro, Spokesperson and Press Secretary, SLM/A. For more info regarding above Press Release, please contact: Nouri Abdalla, SLM/A, GSM: +254-72-752-2952 Email: nouriabdalla@yahoo.com

Darfur JEM rebels emerge as key to east Sudan peace

Sudan Tribune report June 8, 2006 excerpt:

Rebel group from arid eastern Sudan is due finally to start peace talks with Khartoum next week but the exclusion of Darfur-based Islamic rebels may bring yet more misery to the long-neglected region.

The Eastern Front, comprising rebels from the region’s largest ethnic group - the Beja - and Rashidiya Arabs, are taking part in the negotiations in the Eritrean capital on Tuesday 13 June.

But the meeting's outcome may be decided by the increasingly effective Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a moderate Islamist rebel group hitherto mainly active in the western region of Darfur, where it rejected a peace deal signed by the larger Sudan Liberation Movement last month.

The Eastern Front controls a slice of territory on the Sudanese-Eritrean border around the town of Hamesh Koreb and has been involved in low-intensity guerrilla activity against the Khartoum government for years.

While the Eastern Front has similar aims to its counterparts in Darfur - autonomy and greater control over their region's resources - their newfound allies in the JEM demand a seat on the presidency, key to eventual national power.

The latest attack, on a government convoy on May 2, is believed to have been carried out by the JEM alone.

Suliman Baldo of Brussels-based think-tank, the International Crisis Group, said that such attacks showed the JEM could thwart the peace process in the east if its demands were not satisfied.

"The attack on May 2 shows the potential for spoiler action in eastern Sudan, that there could be an even greater conflict because the government is not going to invite the JEM to negotiations in Asmara," he said.

"They may be inclined to do more operations like this."

A Western security contractor familiar with the situation said the JEM fighters in the area were also showing unprecedented expertise. Full report.

Beja Congress calls for UN participation in Eastern Sudan talks

East Sudan rebels Press Release signed by Abu Amna, Beja Congress, Eastern Sudan, email address: drabuamna@maktoob.com

Abdurahman Musa Abbakar leads splinter wing of Nur's SLM

AFP report Dissident Darfur Rebels Sign AU Peace Deal- via Defense News June 8, 2006 - excerpt:

"With this declaration we are committing ourselves to the agreement in the same way as the other signatories, and are hoping that it allows peace in Darfur," said a leader of the SLM/A faction, Abdurahman Musa Abbakar.

A leader of the dissident JEM faction said the final decision to sign the pact was a "historic moment" for Sudan.

"I want to invite all people to adopt this peace agreement because this agreement belongs to all Sudanese and their neighbors," said Abdurahman Adam Abdurahman Aburisha.

Note, meanwhile a report today by VOA says holdout rebels loyal to those refusing to sign Darfur Peace Agreement are demanding international intervention and their "rights first and then peace later." See http://voanews.com/english/2006-06-08-voa49.cfm

President of new rebel faction "JEM Aburisha" is Abdurahman Adam Abdurahman Aburish

The French news agency, AFP, reports a member, Abdurahman Adam Abdurahman Aburisha of the JEM splinter group is calling himself president of the new faction, while re-naming it after himself JEM Aburisha. VOA News June 8, 2006.

NATO ready to lend more help to AU in Darfur

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer welcomed on Thursday a request by the African Union for more logistical help for its troops in Darfur, saying the alliance would study what it could do.

NATO has been supplying airlift and training to AU troops and made it clear it would extend that support if an AU request was forthcoming.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he received a letter this week from AU chief Alpha Oumar Konare requesting an extension of help and added that he had put Konare's request to a meeting of alliance defence ministers in Brussels.

"We are now moving on with this," he said after the meeting, adding that NATO logistical support could range from advice on operations to help in setting up an operations centre. - Reuters June 8, 2006.



Photo: UK Defence Secretary Desmond Browne, left, looks across the room as he sits next to his U.S. counterpart Donald Rumsfeld during a meeting of NATO defense ministers at the alliance headquarters in Brussels, Thursday June 8, 2006. NATO defence ministers on Thursday will discuss, among other issues, the expansion of NATOs peacekeeping force in Afghanistan and the Alliances operations and missions in Darfur, Iraq and Kosovo. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Factions of JEM and Nur's SLM signed Darfur peace today

AP report via Aljazeera June 8, 2006 - excerpt:

Breakaway factions from two Darfur rebel groups that rejected last month's peace accord signed a declaration of commitment to the deal Thursday.

"We shall be bound by the letter and spirit of the (Darfur Peace Accord) and shall assume and implement the relevant obligations therein, especially those related to the comprehensive cease-fire agreement," the letter said.

"The former holdouts should do their utmost to urge their respective members and fellow Darfurians to join the peace process," the African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said after the signing ceremony in Addis Ababa.

UPATE: Jun 10 2006 Sudan Tribune report Dissident rebels ink commitment to Darfur peace accord - Asmara statement is signed by Abdelwhaid al-Nur of SLM, Khalil Ibrahim of JEM, Ahmed Ibrahim Diraige, the chairman of the Federal Democratic Alliance (FDA) and former Darfur governor, Dr Sharif Harir from FDA and former SLM leading member and Khamis Abdallah Abakar the former SLA vice-president and leader of the Massaleit component of the SLA faction who was among the 19 commanders wanted to freeze Abdel Wahid out earlier on during the 7th round in December 2005.

Thirty representatives, including commanders and politicians from the splinter wings of the SLM/A and JEM, signed the declaration at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. "With this declaration, we are committing ourselves to the agreement in the same way as the other signatories and are hoping that it allows peace in Darfur," said Abdurahman Musa Abbakar of the SLM/A.

Dissident Darfur rebels to sign peace deal tomorrow

AFP report just in via Mail & Guardian - excerpt:

Dissident factions of two Darfur rebel groups that have rejected a peace deal for the troubled western Sudanese region are to sign onto the pact this week, African Union officials said on Wednesday.

Splinter wings of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) are to sign a specially prepared annex to the May 5 AU-mediated peace accord here on Thursday, the officials said.

"The dissident JEM and SLM rebels are going to sign a declaration on Thursday saying that they support the Darfur Peace Agreement," said Assane Ba, a spokesperson for the Addis Ababa-based pan-African body.

"The declaration will then be annexed to the original accord and will bring these rebels into line with the other signatories," he said.

Representatives of the two groups have been in the Ethiopian capital since last week when a May 31 deadline for hold-outs to the agreement to sign or face possible sanctions passed with no new signers.

They said on Friday they were ready to accept the deal but were waiting until the AU came up with a mechanism for them to join the peace deal.

The AU Peace and Security Council is due to meet on Thursday to approve the annex to the agreement, which is hoped will put further pressure on the remaining hold-outs to sign, diplomats said.

"For the AU, this serves to marginalise those who have not yet signed and keep up pressure for them to join the process," one African diplomat told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity.

Only one Darfur rebel group, the main wing of the SLA, has thus far signed the peace deal with Khartoum and AU officials have become increasingly frustrated with the refusal of the JEM and an SLA faction led by Abdel Wahid Mohammed al-Nur to accept it.

AU commission chief Alpha Oumar Konare told reporters on Thursday that discussions with al-Nur's faction were ongoing.

"We maintain contacts," he said. "We received a message from Abdel Wahid saying he is ready to come, but he has some conditions. Now we have to examine those conditions."