Sudan agrees to allow more troops into Darfur to tackle rebels

SUDAN’S government agreed in a breakthrough at peace talks yesterday to allow more African Union troops enter the Darfur region to confine rebel fighters to their bases, a possible precursor to disarmament.

Sudan’s top government negotiator made the announcement at the talks in Nigeria, which had earlier been threatened with failure by the rebels’ refusal to discuss being moved back to base by Sudanese government forces.

“They may need more forces, besides protection of their monitors, to help cantonment and protection of the rebels and we agree about that,” said government negotiator Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmed.

He said the exact number of troops would be decided later.

Sudan has already agreed to 300 African Union troops in Darfur with a mandate to protect AU monitors of a widely disregarded cease-fire with rebels, but had previously rejected an AU disarmament role.

The proposal by AU chairman and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo was to send some 2,000 AU troops to garrison rebels, while Khartoum disarmed the pro-government Janjaweed militia.

The United Nations says the Darfur conflict has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than a million people driven from their homes and up to 50,000 killed.

Mr al-Khalifa said disarming the Janjaweed had already begun.

Khartoum is under pressure from an August 30 deadline set by the UN Security Council to show progress in protecting civilians and disarming the Janjaweed or face sanctions.

Darfur rebels began an armed revolt against the government in February 2003 after years of conflict between Arab nomads and African farmers over scarce resources in the arid region.

They want a greater role for Darfur minorities in government which they say is dominated by Arab Sudanese from the north.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International accused the Sudanese government of attacking freedom of expression over Darfur, in particular by arresting witnesses of humans rights violations.

“Instead of arresting those who commit human rights violations, the Sudanese authorities are arresting those who are exposing the perpetrators,” said Irene Khan, secretary general of the London-based organisation.

“As long as people who want to speak out about these violations are intimidated and arrested, the commitments of the government of Sudan to the international community remain hollow,” Ms Khan said.

Amnesty has repeatedly condemned over the last few weeks the arrest of scores of people, held after speaking to the media or African Union ceasefire monitors.

“People have been arrested for presenting petitions, trying to organise public meetings and opposing the return of those displaced by the conflict to unsafe areas,” Amnesty said.

Control over the independent Sudanese press is tight, and government-owned television and radio give a one-sided view of the crisis, portraying foreign media reports about human right violations in Darfur as a “conspiracy against Sudan”, Amnesty said.