NIGERIA/USA: Sudan and the main Darfur rebel faction sign peace agreement to end three years of fighting that has killed tens of thousands of people

Record ID: 236467

  • Title: NIGERIA/USA: Sudan and the main Darfur rebel faction sign peace agreement to end three years of fighting that has killed tens of thousands of people
  • Date: 6th May 2006
  • Summary: (BN09) ABUJA, NIGERIA (MAY 5, 2006) (REUTERS) VENUE OF MEETING, STATE HOUSE IN ABUJA
  • Embargoed: 21st May 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA4MG49J6421Y2ID4XJWK19R2HP
  • Story Text: The government of Sudan and the main Darfur rebel faction signed a peace agreement on Friday (May 5) to end three years of fighting that has killed tens of thousands of people and forced 2 million to flee their homes.
    Majzoub al-Khalifa, head of the government's negotiating team, and rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction leader Minni Arcua Minnawi signed the agreement in the Nigerian capital Abuja after days of intense negotiations and international pressure.
    Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo praised the SLA chief for being not only a military commander but a political leader.
    Both the government and the SLA faction said they were signing the document despite reservations over power sharing and security in order to end the suffering in Darfur.
    Aid organisations say the conflict has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
    But it was unclear whether the agreement, signed after two years of African Union-mediated talks, will translate into peace on the ground in Darfur.
    A rival faction of the SLA and the smaller Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) have rejected the deal.
    Earlier on, as talks were underway, the SLA faction had said they agreed to the terms of the deal despite reservations in order to end the suffering in Sudan's arid west.
    "We are crossing the bridge right now. We just need some few hours so that we can sit down and talk with our other colleagues in the other parties. We are moving forward," faction spokesperson Seif Eldin Haroun told journalists on Friday
    Minnawi had told Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and a host of senior diplomats meeting at Obasanjo's Abuja compound that he accepted the document with some reservations over power sharing.
    The SLA faction wants more parliamentary representation.
    The deal Minnawi's SLA faction agreed to was an amended version of an African Union (AU) drafted document produced after two years of talks.
    Western diplomats reworked parts of that draft to win the support of rebels.
    These amendments included stronger security guarantees for the rebels.
    In particular, provisions for rebel fighters to join the Sudanese armed forces were strengthened, as was a requirement Sudan disarm its proxy Janjaweed militias.
    The government delegation, which had earlier accepted the AU draft, told a meeting of African heads of state and Western diplomats they would also accept the new terms.
    Earlier on Friday, Zoellick urged rebels to seize what he says was an "opportunity for peace" as he stressed the need for more cooperation amidst a desperate situation involving millions of starving people.
    "There are 2 million people in camps, there are people dying everyday, the people in Darfur need the leadership of the movements to seize an opportunity for peace. And they have the opportunity in the next few hours to agree to a package of changes that would strengthen the provisions that they had expressed concerns about. They would complement the African Union task and we cannot be sure that the government of Sudan will agree with them. But it is now time for the leadership of these movements to step forward and recognise that there is a tremendous chance to strengthen the regional authority that they would have to strengthen their political power sharing on their way to elections," Zoellick said.
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