Egypt: Darfur rebels must sign
2006-05-06 17:06
Cairo - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has welcomed the signing of the Darfur peace agreement by Khartoum and the region's main rebel faction and has urged the other parties to sign the deal.
On Saturday, Egypt called on "all parties involved to implement (the agreement) in good faith ... to fulfil the higher interests of Sudan and the interests of its citizens".
The president also stressed Egypt's "intention to continue humanitarian assistance to the people of the region and reconstruction efforts, as well as its willingness to send peacekeeping forces to oversee the implementation of the agreement".
Egypt has contributed military and police officers to the African Union mission in Darfur, and responded to the humanitarian crisis in the western Sudanese region by airlifting food and medical supplies.
The Darfur peace deal was signed in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on Friday, in the presence of mediators and peace talks host Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel group, and a smaller faction of the divided SLM, led by Abdelwahid Al-Nur, refused to sign the United Nations-sponsored deal.
Darfur is an arid desert region the size of France. Civil war in the area erupted in early 2003, when armed local movements began fighting the Arab-led government in Khartoum, demanding more autonomy for the region.
In response, the Sudanese regime unleashed the Arab Janjaweed militia to carry out brutal attacks on Darfur's largely black population.
The war has caused at least 180 000 deaths and left 2.4 million people homeless.