Sudan and LJM rebels sign a Darfur peace agreement in Doha
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July 14 , 2011 (DOHA) — The Sudanese government and the Liberation and
Justice Movement (LJM) signed a peace agreement in Doha to end the
eight year conflict in the restive region of Darfur, as another rebel
group blamed Khartoum for refusing to discuss core issues with them.
JPEG - 53.3 kb
Sudan’s Presidential Adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Deen Al-Attabani and
Liberation Movement and Justice (LJM) representative Al-Tijani
Al-Sissi (R) hold up the documents of a peace accord after the signing
ceremony in Doha July 14, 2011 (UNAMID)
The deal comes six weeks after a conference of Darfur stakeholders who
endorsed a framework document for the resolution of the armed conflict
in western Sudan. The text, supported by the international community,
urged the Sudanese government and the rebel groups to negotiate a
peace pact based on the seven chapters definite by the mediators.
Khartoum said the peace document offers a good ground for peace and
rebels can negotiate the integration of their combatants and their
political participation in the central government but also into the
institutions of the troubled region.
The LJM which was has been in negotiation with the government since
March 2010 announced together with the latter their intention to ink
an agreement but the JEM which holds parallel talks with Khartoum said
compensations and a mechanism of implementation of a peace deal among
others need to be reviewed or added.
The Doha Peace Agreement on Darfur was signed by presidential adviser
Ghazi Salah Al-Deen who is in charge of Darfur file and the LJM
president Tijani El-Sissi. The signing ceremony was attended by the
Emir of Qatar, Sudanese, Chadian, Eritrean and Burkina Faso
presidents.
Also present were, the Ethiopian deputy prime minister Hailemariam
Desalegn, Arab League secretary-general Nabil Elaraby, and the
secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Conference Ekmelddin
Ihsanoglu. The head of Darfur peacekeeping operation, UNAMID, Ibrahim
Gambari represented the UN chief Ban Ki-Moon and the AU’s Jean Ping.
In a speech delivered after the signature, President Omer Al-Bashir
expressed his determination "to overstep the days of war and
destruction". He further pledged to work with his "partners in the
peace agreement" to achieve the aspirations of Darfur people for
security and development.
Bashir also stressed his "commitment to follow the peace road map in
Darfur and implement, item by item, what we agreed upon".
LJM leader El-Sissi said the agreement is a strong basis for peace in
Darfur stressing that the LJM believes on the need for an inclusive
deal and did the necessary to get the others (JEM) on board. He also
underlined the efforts exerted by his movement to coordinate with
them.
Sissi hailed the efforts of the State of Qatar, the African Union,
United Nations and the international community emphasising: "We
achieved what we had to do for the people of Darfur".
Alluding to the criticisms made by the JEM to the peace agreement they
sealed with Khartoum, Sissi said "if someone else believes he can do
better than what we did I assure you we will fully endorse what they
do".
JEM chief negotiator Ahmed Tugud held a press conference in Doha
yesterday where he criticised the government-LJM deal stressing on the
need to review the amount of individual compensation, and security
arrangements.
Tugud however reiterated JEM commitment to the Doha process and called
for talks with the government on all the seven chapters of the
framework agreement. He further said that JEM rejects partial
solutions.
The mediators said they failed to convince the rebel groups to work
together and form one delegation to negotiate with Khartoum. Instead
they put out the framework document and said based on this text rebel
groups can separately negotiate and sign a peace agreement with the
government.
Ghazi Salah Al-Deen in his remarks at the ceremony repeated the
position of the government that JEM has three months to join the deal.
The government says JEM can only negotiate the situation of its
combatants and its participations in the political institutions but
refuses to open new talks with the rebel groups on the whole document
saying they are not serious to achieve peace in Darfur.
LAST MOMENT HITCHES
Announced to start at 4:00 pm local time, the signing ceremony had
been delayed for two hours as the LJM refused to sign the peace
agreement unless the government accept to name the members of Darfur
regional authority "ministers" instead of "secretary".
The government said "secretary" will allow to distinguish the members
of the authority in charge of the implementation of the deal from the
states ministers but the rebels refused the argument.
As the two sides camped on their positions, the Qatari prime minister
Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabir Al-Thani had to intervene and asked
President Bashir personally to concede to the rebels’ demand.
LJM supporters who came from Darfur rallied in the streets of the
Qatari capital after the signing to express their gratitude and
thankfulness to the State of Qatar and its emir, Hamad bin Khalifa
Al-Thani, who sponsored the two year process and pledged to allocate
two billions of dollars for Darfur development.
(ST)
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