Your attitude to the current Darfur peace talks taking place in Nigeria will depend to a large extent on how much you believe that the murder, rape and destruction being visited on the African tribes by the Arab Janaweed militia are an unfortunate by-product of a civil war between rebels and the government. If you believe that – and you believe that the Sudanese government are interested in a just settlement – then the fact that the talks are near to collapse will be cause for major disappointment:
Peace talks on the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region have broken up after two of the region’s three rebel groups said they would not sign a deal.
The talks, being mediated by the African Union in the Nigerian capital Abuja, ran through the night after missing a midnight signing deadline.
But the main rebel group, an arm of the Sudan Liberation Army, says it will return to negotiations in a few hours.
International negotiators say the deal is the best hope for peace in Darfur.
If you believe as I do, on the other hand, that the Sudanese government is using the excuse of a civil war as a cover for pursuing a policy of genocide against the black African tribes in Darfur, then hopes were never particularly high in the first place. But we’ll see.
Update. And now there is a deal:
The largest rebel group in Sudan’s Darfur region has agreed to sign a peace deal with the government.
The breakthrough came when SLM leader Minni Minnawi returned to the talks, following a late-night session.
However, two smaller groups say they are not happy with the terms of the deal on offer. The government has also agreed to sign.
Time will tell whether this’ll make any difference whatever to the fate of those in Darfur, still at the mercy of the Janjaweed.
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