JEM criticizes presidential decree on Darfur peace committee

The Justice and Equality Movement led by Dr. Khalil Ibrahim launched a sharp critique of the high committee set up by President Omar Al Bashir to follow up on the Darfur issue. Bashir had decreed Monday that a new committee would be responsible for managing the peace talks, comprising the Ministers of Defence, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Finance and National Economy and Information as well as the three governors of the Darfur States, and a representative of the Transitional Regional Authority of Darfur. Bashir also decreed that presidential adviser Dr. Ghazi Salah El Din will head the committee. Ghazi had already been charged with the Darfur file so in effect the decree re-appointed him, although now with higher prominence.JEM, however, described the new committee as an unauthentic gesture. The movement’s spokesman Ahmed Hussein Adam in an interview with Radio Dabanga described the committee as a “chamber of military operations.” He warned against attempting to promote peace within the context of the Doha Forum, which he considers will not lead to peace. JEM withdrew from Doha in May 2010 and since then has suggested that another location for peace talks would be better. Ahmed Hussein said that setting up a committee to follow up on the Darfur issue is useless as long as the government is still considering military solutions. He described the committee as a way to distract attention from military action.