Darfur's moment of truth - UN
2007-10-11 18:51
Khartoum - Darfur peace talks will be a "moment of truth" to stop the chaotic violence plaguing Sudan's west, UN envoy Jan Eliasson said on Thursday.
He urged all of the more than a dozen fractured Darfur rebel factions to attend the talks due to start in Libya on October 27 and said an urgent ceasefire would be the priority.
"The first very concrete step... is that we will go for and
hopefully achieve a credible cessation of hostilities," Eliasson told reporters in Khartoum, adding that invites for the first stage of talks would be sent to most rebel groups.
"I find the situation on the ground ... deeply alarming. The
military escalation is a great source of concern."
Some rebel leaders have said they would not go unless only
one delegation from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and
one from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) talked with Khartoum, but with more than a dozen factions that is unlikely to happen.
Darfur envoy Eliasson said preconditions were dangerous.
"To miss this opportunity is a tragedy - this is the moment
of truth," he said.
On Thursday, the only rebel faction to sign a peace deal proposed in 2006, called for an international investigation into an attack on their forces in Muhajiriya, South Darfur, where at least 45 were killed and dozens injured.
The SLA blames Sudan's army for the attack, although it has
denied any involvement.
"There has to be an international investigation
immediately," Minni Arcua Minnawi, the head of the SLA who
became presidential adviser in Khartoum.
Huge peace-keeping force planned
The SLA wants a UN peace force deployed to help stem the violence.
"We are committed to the peace and the ceasefire but we want
the government to not repeat any action like this."
A 26 000-strong AU-UN peacekeeping force is planned.
Mostly non-Arabs took up arms in early 2003 accusing
Khartoum of neglect. International experts estimate 200 000 have died and 2.5m have been driven from their homes in more than four years of fighting.
Khartoum puts the death toll at 9 000 and says the West has exaggerated the conflict in Darfur.