SUDAN: Darfur rebels gather for talks, key figures yet to arrive
DAR ES SALAAM, 3 August 2007 - Leaders of rebel groups from western Sudan arrived in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha on 3 August, ahead of talks aimed at securing common ground for fresh negotiations on Darfur with the Sudanese government, an official said. However, concerns remained that one of the leaders, Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur, of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), would not attend the talks. The group is influential in the crisis. It was also unclear if Suleiman Jamous, another important leader from Darfur, would be at the meeting as he has been in a hospital in Kordofan for 13 months, and the government said he would be arrested should he try to leave. "Several diplomats, representatives of rebels, media personnel and other stakeholders started arriving yesterday [August 2] and today [August 3]. We hope the consultations will formally be opened at 5.00pm," an official with the Tanzanian foreign affairs ministry told IRIN from Arusha. The three-day meeting has been organised jointly by the African Union and the UN. Analysts believe the meeting, if successful, could give the proposed hybrid AU-UN mission an opportunity to revisit the problems the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) has encountered. "The DPA has been part of the problem because most people in Darfur have not bought into it," Miriam Jooma of the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria said. The key question ahead of the talks, she added, is who represents Darfur? "There has to be engagement with all smaller groups," Jooma said. "Essentially Arusha should bring together enough sensibilities to reach some understanding, especially on the contentious issues of security, power sharing and compensation." Briefing journalists in Dar es Salaam earlier this week, Salim Ahmed Salim, the AU special envoy to Darfur, said the meeting hoped to unite dozens of rebel groups and facilitate a way forward for talks with the government in Khartoum. "It is difficult for the groups to negotiate without having clear ideas of what is at stake. At present every group has its own interests," Salim said. He appealed to all rebel groups to attend the talks. Last year a faction of the SLM/A led by Minni Minawi signed a peace deal with the government. However, the Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur faction and the Justice and Equality Movement - headed by Khalil Ibrahim - refused to sign the AU-mediated deal. After the deal, Minnawi was appointed special assistant to President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, but aid workers say his forces have continued to attack civilians and peacekeepers. The others split into about 13
