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Rebels Say They May Abandon Darfur Pact
Rebel commander Abdulrahaman Abdallah, left, said that without a strong international force in Darfur, "the government will go back to its strategy, which is genocide, and inevitably we will go back to the bush."
(By Craig Timberg -- The Washington Post)
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The ferocity of the government response provoked an international outcry. The U.S. government and many other observers have labeled it genocide.
Combat has escalated sharply in recent days, with heavy bombing and clashes near the North Darfur town of Kutum and in an area north of El Fasher where, according to African Union reports, government forces sustained heavy losses this week.
The African Union mission has been widely criticized by rebels, civilians and analysts as lethargic. The Janjaweed and government forces have repeatedly broken the cease-fire with impunity, even waving their guns at A.U. troops.
This week, the government seized a tanker full of African Union jet fuel in El Fasher and used it to fill its own military aircraft, African Union sources said, speaking on condition their names not be published.
Investigations of major breaches of the cease-fire, meanwhile, have been stymied. That includes an incident Saturday in which villagers who had been attacked by Janjaweed militiamen two weeks earlier gathered near the ruins of their homes in South Darfur to speak to A.U. investigators set to arrive by helicopter.
But the helicopter turned back because of severe rain, and the Janjaweed attacked again, killing 18 of the survivors of the earlier assault and dispersing as many as 25,000 into a remote southern region far from humanitarian assistance or military protection, rebel leaders here said.
Minnawi complained to top African Union officials about the incident, and the group's cease-fire commission twice scheduled investigative trips to the site of the atrocities, only to cancel them as commission members quarreled over the importance of the journey.
"The African Union is too weak to act," Abdallah said.
Adoma Ahmed Haggar, a rebel field commander based here, said, "There are no signs of peace on the ground. The A.U. is not able. Our only hope is pinned on the United Nations."
The U.N. Security Council approved the peacekeeping force for Darfur on Aug. 31, and intensive diplomatic pressure continues from the United States and other governments to persuade the Sudanese government to allow the force to enter the region.
Sudanese officials have called the U.N. proposal a violation of national sovereignty and an impediment to peace. Many outside analysts contend that the government wants to remove all outside observers from Darfur so it can pursue a military solution, including stepped-up attacks on civilians in areas where the rebels have popular support.
The government has also issued new restrictions against aid groups and journalists. Many humanitarian organizations have curbed their operations in the face of rising violence that has led to the deaths of 12 aid workers since the peace deal was signed. The U.N. World Food Program has reported that 355,000 residents of Darfur are going without food because it is not safe to reach them.
Rebel commanders say they will not tolerate such attacks and deprivations much longer. Minnawi's group has about 50 senior commanders. Asked how many would resume fighting if an effective international force did not arrive soon, Marmar said, "All of them."
