From the Bush to a Chandeliered Hotel, a Rebel Takes Talks in Stride

Conflict in Darfur Has Grown Into Entrenched Way Of Life for Many

SIRTE, Libya, Oct. 28 -- Until 17 days ago, rebel Abdul Majid Dosa was living in the bush of the warring Darfur region of western Sudan. Dosa, 51, would stub out his last cigarette of the day at sunset, he said, so that Sudanese government warplanes wouldn't see the glow.

His bed was a stretch of arid ground. No tents -- "they make us a gift to the bombs," Dosa said. Each night, he would curl up to sleep aside his rebel comrades-in-arms, Kalashnikov and pistol by his side.

Then, one day, Dosa's cellphone rang: It was the United Nations, he recalled, inviting him to a new round of Darfur peace talks.

So Dosa, a self-described coordinator, legal consultant and gunman for an armed group calling itself the National Reformation and Development Program, flew to N'Djamena, the capital of neighboring Chad. He put on one of the two or three suits his rebel movement keeps on hand there for peace talks. The United Nations put the lanky rebel on another plane to Sirte, Libya, where Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi is hosting peace talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels, chaired by the United Nations and the African Union.

On Sunday, Dosa stood under the glimmering crystal chandeliers of a marble-and-gilt convention hall, site of the talks.

The rebels' communal brown suit jacket hung off his skeletal frame. His oversize pant legs pooled around his white gym socks. A Lebanese reporter held a giant fuzzy microphone in his face. Two weeks removed from the bush, Dosa was doing a TV stand-up, fighting not to blink under the camera lights as he spoke about the rebel cause.

For Dosa, a veteran of three years of fighting and one previous round of peace talks, it was all part of the life of a Darfur rebel.

"You sleep on the ground -- you sleep in a hotel," he said, shrugging. "It becomes normal. We come, we talk, we wait to see if they reply to our demands. If not, we go back to the bush."

Nearly five years on, the Darfur conflict is hardening a culture of arms and institutionalizing aid programs and peace efforts.

Darfur is the site of the world's largest ongoing humanitarian effort, according to the United Nations, with about 14,000 aid workers involved in a $1 billion a year struggle to help 3.8 million Darfur people dependent on handouts because of the fighting.

A joint A.U.-U.N. peacekeeping force with 26,000 troops and police officers is slated to head to Darfur in January.

The conflict started in 2003 when the region's ethnic African tribesmen revolted against Sudan's predominantly Arab government, accusing it of systematic discrimination. International groups estimate that the conflict has left between 200,000 and 450,000 dead through violence, hunger and disease. Another 2.5 million people have been displaced.