Darfur rebels refute accusations of obstructing Doha peace agreement
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May 4, 2011 (DOHA) — The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)
denied obstructing efforts to reach a negotiated agreement for Darfur
conflict but stressed that any durable peace should be inclusive for
all Darfur forces.
Sudan’s government top negotiator Amin Hassan Omer accused the rebel
group of leaking the draft peace agreement and obstructing the Doha
process. He further said by its presence in Doha, JEM intends to
mislead the international community and gives the impression they are
seeking to reach a peaceful settlement.
Today also, the SMC, a news website close to the Sudanese intelligence
service, said a JEM delegation agreed during a meeting held recently
in Washington with the US envoy for Sudan Princeton Lyman to prevent
the Liberation and Equality Movement (LJM) from signing a peace deal
in Doha with Khartoum.
In Doha delegations from Sudanese government and JEM stopped
discussions on Tuesday after failing to make progress on the second
file at the negotiating table, individual compensations.
"Government accusations are false and have no foundation. We are here
to negotiate peace but we cannot observe a timetable or meet the
deadline of 7 May," said JEM spokesperson Gibreel Adam Bilal.
The rebel official said the government refused to continue the
discussion on the compensations after refusing to raise the amount of
compensation from 250 USD per family. Khartoum also threatened to opt
for tough positions if JEM refuses to negotiate based on the proposed
draft text.
The proposed peace document is mainly discussed by the Sudanese
government and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM). However, JEM
asked for direct discussions with the government saying talks should
not be based on the draft agreement.
The mediators suspended the discussions between the two sides without
agreement as it was the case for the file of human rights and
fundamental freedoms.
Burkina Faso, foreign minister and chief mediator, Djibril Bassole
arrived yesterday evening in Doha where he is expected to discuss with
the two parties ways to break the deadlock in the direct talks.
Speaking about the accusation of leaking the peace agreement to the
local press in Khartoum , Gibreel denied that JEM unveiled the content
of the draft peace agreement saying they were the last to receive it.
"We have no interest to leak it because we can’t advertise something
we want to amend. Also what interest we get from disseminating it to a
local press financed by the government or supported through the
advertisement of the government controlled companies."
"This is a nonsense," he said.
Gibreel also dismissed the meeting of JEM with Princeton Lyman saying
they day where their delegation headed to Washington, the US envoy was
in Doha meeting with them.
"The truth that we met him in Doha where he held talks with the
mediation and all the delegations. We agreed with Lyman on the need
for an inclusive process including all the armed movements," he said.
Lyman before to leave Doha to Sudan told reporters that the
participation of Minni Minawi and Abdel Wahid Al-Nur is necessary for
a successful process and a viable peace agreement.
Gibreel pointed out that the rebels not participating in the process
should not be forced to follow what is already achieved in Doha but
allowed to come with their contributions and ideas.
The mediation works on a peace document that would be open for the
other groups to discuss and sign in the future if they join the Doha
process.
They parties are supposed to submit their final observations and
comments on the draft peace agreement on 7 May. The mediators also are
expected to hold a conference for Darfur stakeholders to discuss and
adopt a final peace agreement from 18 to 23 May.
(ST)
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