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Darfurians express support for Abuja peace deal
2006-06-05 10:47:55
By Anaclet Rwegayura, PST, Addis Ababa
A delegation of the rebel faction Sudan Liberation Movement/Army that refused to assent to the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) on Friday appealed to its leader, Abdulwahid Mohamed Ahmed Alnur, to sign the document.
Speaking to journalists here, members of the delegation said they were in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to convey the desire of all the people of Darfur for peace and express gratitude to the African Union (AU) for its efforts to resolve the bloody crisis in the western region of Sudan.
The DPA was signed on 5 May 2006 in Abuja, Nigeria, after lengthy negotiations for lasting peace in the region.
Despite taking part in the negotiations, Abdulwahid’s faction and the Justice and Equality Movement, another rebel group led by Khalil Ibrahim, refused to be party the peace deal.
The deadline for signing the agreement expired on 30 May 2006, but the AU Commission is working out modalities on how to accommodate the interests of Darfurians who, support the agreement.
’’The major reason for our leaders not to sign the peace agreement is about compensation to the internally displaced persons who have lost everything (as a result of the fighting),’’ said Issa Mohamed Adam, political advisor in Abdulwahid’s constituency.
’’This is the main issue delaying the signing of the agreement,’’ he said. ’’I am convinced that one day we will sign the agreement because we cannot be excluded from the peace process of Darfur.’’
The faction’s delegation includes field commanders and representatives of political offices and IDP camps. The authorities in Khartoum supported their trip to Addis Ababa, Issa said.
They expressed gratitude to the international community, the United Nations and its specialized agencies as well as non-governmental humanitarian agencies operating in Darfur.
They also appealed for continued support for the IDPs and refugees in order to facilitate their safe return to villages once peace returns in the region.
AU Peace and Security Commissioner, Said Djinnit received the delegation at the organisation’s headquarters. They told him that they were appealing to Abdulwahid and his colleagues to join the peace process in Darfur.
’’In the Movement, we don’t have dispute with our leaders. We think this peace agreement needs no additional clauses.
We are convinced that we cannot gain anything from the war while the international community is calling for peace,” said Mohammed.
Abdallah Abdulkhalid, a member of the faction’s political bureau.
According to Issa, the widely held impression that Mini Minawi, who signed the DPA, led the largest group of SLM/A was a distortion of the facts on the ground.
’’We would like to correct the information about which group is major in the Movement. We represent the majority of the population in Darfur and we are active in three states of the region North, South and West.
’’We are fixed in our original movement that was set up in 1992 and that is the major one under the leadership of Abdulwahid’’ Issa claimed. ”If the leader does not sign the peace agreement, we’ll sign it ourselves’’.
Im#plementation of the DPA is already under way. AU Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare said Thursday that the Peace and Security Council of the AU would soon meet to consider the necessary follow-up measures to be taken against the leadership of the adamant groups and their members.
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