Darfuri civil society in Khartoum ask rebel hardliners join talks

Members of Darfuri civil society groups in Khartoum on Monday demanded the armed factions which reject negotiations to join the dialogue to solve the crisis in Darfur. They called on the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) to expedite a solution to the pending issues with the government. Dr. Idriss Yusuf, a member of the civil society groups said in a press conference in Khartoum yesterday with a group of recently returned participants from the Doha conference, that the negotiations have gone on for a long time and with it, the suffering of the victims has increased. He warned of singing any agreement without the support of the people of Darfur or else it would be like the Abuja Agreement. Dr. Idriss also stated that the pledges of Qatar to develop Darfur in addition to the rights that the people of Darfur could receive should never be lost.

In Qatar, the JEM announced the arrival of eleven of its negotiators from Darfur to Doha on Sunday in preparation to restart the negotiations which had stopped between it and the government for more than one month now. The spokesperson of the movement, Jibril Bilal, told Radio Dabanga that the eleven negotiators arrived yesterday from the field and they are waiting for another eleven to join them according to promises the movement received from the mediators. Bilal also revealed that the next step would be to agree with the mediators on the timetable of the negotiations and then start the negotiations immediately after dividing the negotiating delegates into groups according to the seven negotiating files.

On Tuesday, Darfuri civil society groups in Khartoum demanded a clear mechanism of implementing any agreement which would be reached in Doha, in addition to drawing a timetable for the implementation and holding any side accountable if they fail to abide by the agreement.

The lawyer Mohammed Abdulla Al Duma, a member of one of the civil society groups, said in a press conference in Khartoum yesterday that the current document faces the problem of its legal framework and he stated that they have discussed in Doha a comprehensive peace which would include seven Darfur factions, recognized or unified before the final agreement.

Another Darfuri figure in Khartoum, Ustaz Abdulla Adam Khatir, said that the negotiations will continue, whether in Doha or elsewhere, till a fair peace is arrived at. He added that expeditiousness on the part of the government to reach to an agreement with any one faction will not solve the problem and will not get any international or provincial support. Khatir stressed on the necessity of the government to try and relieve complications and look for ways to end the Darfur crisis completely.