Sudan to offer Darfur rebels govt posts
 Khartoum will offer Darfur’s most powerful rebel group government posts as part of a future peace deal to end conflict in Sudan’s west, according to documents setting out the terms of negotiations seen by Reuters. The documents were the first concrete sign that Khartoum is prepared to share power with its bitter foe in the western region — a development that could alienate existing allies there and complicate preparations for April elections.
But rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) played down chances of reaching a final peace pact by March 15, as outlined in a framework deal for peace talks that will be signed later on Tuesday in the Qatari capital Doha.
“We are working to meet the March 15 deadline, but that itself is not a requirement,” chief JEM negotiator Ahmed Tugud told Reuters.
“We are trying to move forward, at least. It has been a long time since we’ve had a direct dialogue (with the government). We believe it is the right time to start,” he added.
Another rebel official said the deadline was unrealistic, and rebels reported fresh violence in Darfur two days after an initial version of the framework peace deal was inked in Chad.
The initial framework included a ceasefire, plans to integrate the JEM into Sudan’s army and a promise to reach a final peace deal by March 15. Tuesday’s event has been billed as the “official signing”.
“Peace will prevail in Darfur before the coming elections,” Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was quoted as saying by State news agency Suna late on Monday.
According to a French-language copy of the framework agreement, the JEM and Khartoum agreed to “the participation of the Justice and Equality Movement at all levels of government ... in a manner to be agreed subsequently between the two parties”.
The deal comes a year after Khartoum and the JEM met in Doha to agree to confidence-building measures designed to pave the way for the framework agreement and then full peace talks.
That process stalled after the JEM accused Khartoum of attacking its positions days after the ceasefire and of failing to carry out agreed measures, including freeing JEM captives
auto-generated latest relevant links
|
In any case, that's probably two to three years away from actually happening. We won't have any sense of the commercial viability for some time yet," Barthe Cortes said..
