Arusha Talks – A Key Moment for Darfur Rebels as Well

The UN and the African Union (AU) are planning to bring together all factions of Darfur rebels, who did not sign the May 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement with the Government of Sudan (GoS), for a preparatory meeting to help them unify their ranks. The meeting, which is planned to take place in Arusha, Tanzania on 3-5 August 2007, is seen as a necessary step to set the stage for the resumption of talks between the rebels and the GoS.

Yet while some rebel factions have accepted the UN-AU invitation to come to Arusha, reports indicated that a major rebel leader, Abdelwahid Muhammad Nour of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), has not. Nour told Reuters in a statement "we will not be a part of Arusha until an oil-for-food program is in place with money going to humanitarian aid." While Nour’s demands are understandable and his humanitarian concerns totally legitimate, the way for him to achieve his goals is to go to the very talks he is intending to boycott. Mr. Nour and his fellow rebel leaders need not compete with the GoS in the field of inflexibility. The people of Darfur cannot afford that.

Nour’s absence, if confirmed, will certainly cast a show over the Arusha meeting and bring into question the ability of Darfur rebels to put aside their differences and unite for the sake of their people. The rebels’ unity has become a major obstacle against peace in the devastated region. Even for close observers, the continuous fracturing of the rebel groups is making it hard to know who is who, and who is allying itself with whom.

So far, the world’s overwhelming sympathy with the people of Darfur and the shock and outrage over the atrocities committed by the GoS have helped shield off Darfur rebel leaders from criticism. But failure to come together to work for peace and show leadership could erode that sympathy.