LJM rebels meet Darfur mediators over Khartoum’s strategy

A delegation of the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) met yesterday with the mediation of the Darfur peace process in Qatar. The vice president of the LJM, Haider Galokuma, told Radio Dabanga that they discussed the peace process. He said that LJM sought clarification from the mediation as to its position on the government’s new announced strategy to resolve the crisis in Darfur.The new government strategy downplays the importance of a peace agreement with rebels, emphasizing instead a more comprehensive approach that also includes development and local reconciliation. Critics such as the Umma Party and Sudan Liberation Movement have called the strategy ‘peace through force.’

Galokuma said that the mediation confirmed in the meeting that it was not concerned by the government’s strategy and it is still committed to the Doha platform. The mediation team consists of diplomats of the African Union, United Nations and Qatar. The team is headed by Djibril Bassolé, a former Burkinabé minister of foreign affairs. Talks between Khartoum and the LJM rebels are suspended until after Ramadan.