Region | Sudan
Darfur rebel leader resists peace talk pressure
A Darfur rebel leader on Tuesday said he was resisting international pressure to attend peace talks in Qatar and vowed to boycott all negotiations until government militias were disarmed and attacks ended.
- Agencies
- Published: 15:44 December 2, 2008
Khartoum: A Darfur rebel leader on Tuesday said he was resisting international pressure to attend peace talks in Qatar and vowed to boycott all negotiations until government militias were disarmed and attacks ended.
Abdel Wahed Mohamed Ahmed Al Nur said he was having regular consultations with officials in France, where he currently lives, and other international bodies, who all said he should take part in talks with Sudan's government.
But the chairman of the insurgent Sudan Liberation Army said he was sticking to his often-repeated position that he would not negotiate until "security" returned to Sudan's violent west.
"Without security we will not be part of any process," Nur said.
"The first step must be conflict suspension. They must stop killing our people. They must stop the rapes. They must disarm the janjaweed (a name used for mostly-Arab government-backed militias). They must move the people who have occupied our land."
His comments came as 15 human rights groups issued a report accusing the Sudanese government of continuing attacks on Darfur civilians, despite promising a new peace push in the region.
International experts say more than 200,000 have died since Nur and other rebels took up arms against the government in 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglecting the region.
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