Talks May Help Unite Rebel Forces In Darfur
U.N. Envoy Wary On Peace Prospects

By Nora Boustany
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, May 17, 2007

The regional government of southern Sudan plans to bring together Darfur rebel factions for a meeting in preparation for future peace talks with Sudan's central government, said the U.N. special envoy to Sudan, Jan Eliasson.

Just back from a trip to the southern city of Juba and the capital, Khartoum, Eliasson, a former foreign minister of Sweden, said he found it hard to be upbeat about the prospects.

"There is a beginning of a political process, but I have difficulty using the word optimism. Time is on nobody's side. We cannot give up, though," Eliasson said in an interview in Washington. Over the past months, several European ministers and nongovernmental organizations have pressed the Darfur rebels to unify their positions and demands to facilitate negotiations with the Sudanese government.

Eliasson expressed concern over three developments he has observed in the four trips he has taken to Sudan and its Darfur region in the past five months. He warned of land grabs, infighting among Sudanese tribes, and a radicalization and taking up of arms by refugee camp residents, factors that might scuttle prospects for peace in the troubled western region.

"We see new problems erupting in Darfur among the tribes themselves. They are competing on what scorched land is left after the burnings and killings, and there is more fighting among them than between the rebels and the government," he said.

The U.N. envoy returned last week from Sudan, where he met with ministers in President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's government as well as Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who heads the southern regional government. Eliasson was accompanied by African Union envoy Salim Salim of Tanzania.

The willingness of southern Sudan's regional government to host the meeting is significant, since rebels in the south ended 21 years of fighting with the central government under a 2005 peace agreement that has been seen by some as a model for ending the crisis in Darfur.

The Darfur conflict began in early 2003 when rebels rose up against the government, which responded by arming and supporting Arab militias known as the Janjaweed. More than 450,000 people have died from violence and disease and more than 2.5 million have been forced from their homes, with many living in vast refugee camps.

The Sudanese government has provided arms and vehicles to nomadic tribes, which have launched repeated attacks. Janjaweed militiamen, often riding on horseback, have been blamed for much of the violence, including the burning of villages.

Eliasson also expressed concern over the infiltration of weapons into the refugee camps. "There has been a radicalization inside the camps. People are trying to survive in unbearable conditions, and in some cases there are guns showing up inside the camps," he said. "The longer this conflict drags on, the more problems we face. How do we deal with tribal fighting and radicalization in the camps?"

Sudan has agreed to an expansion of the African Union peacekeeping force of 7,000 with an additional 3,000 U.N. peacekeepers, under the command of Rodolphe Adada from Congo Republic.

In Washington yesterday, House Democrats introduced a measure that would require the Defense Department to study the possible expansion of the Abeche airfield in Chad, near the border with Sudan. The expanded airfield could be used for military or humanitarian purposes.

"General Bashir has been testing the will of the world for too long," said Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.). "This amendment sends him a message that we will explore every option and invest the resources necessary to relieve the genocide."

The Bush administration has not yet officially reacted to the proposal. But "it would be hard for the administration to argue that they oppose genocide in Darfur while at the same time opposing legislation that asks them to explore upgrades in a nearby airfield that would stop it," Israel said. "I spoke with Chad's ambassador Bechir Mahmoud Adam last week, and he said his government would agree."

Under the amendment to the defense authorization bill, the defense secretary would be required to report to Congress within 90 days on the operational status of the airfield and recommendations for upgrades.