The Libya peace talks on the Darfur conflict start on Saturday under the strictly watching eyes of the United Nations. This is supposed to be the most important and turning peace talk ever held on the 4-year old Darfur crisis yet but the build up to the peace conference has hardly been promising.
First of all, there’s the rising suspicion that the rebels might refrain from attending the conference in Libya. The Sudanese government and the Darfur rebel groups have nothing in common and there is a distinct fear that the warring rebels may decide to hold themselves back from another peace negotiation.
Moreover, the rebels themselves are at war with one another. In the past few months, the rebel groups have been torn apart by internal bickering and now the fractions have increased in number. The internal disputes among the warring rebels is anticipated to contrive with the innate resentment against the Sudanese government and stop the rebels from attending the conference.
Even the Khartoum government might just be as reluctant as the rebels themselves to attend the Libya peace talks. There are already several thousands peacekeeping forces stationed in the volatile region of Darfur but an additional 26,000 peacekeepers have been approved by the United Nations. Sudan wants these forces to be African but the African Union cannot guarantee their capability and thus United Nations help is indispensable. Such disagreement over the deployment of peacekeeping force in Darfur is also acting an impediment to the region’s progress.
And then there’s the newly raised voice of al Qaeda supreme Osama bin Laden. This week’s audio released by the terrorist network features bin Laden proclaiming jihad on the Khartoum government and this has helped flare up tension to an even greater degree in the war-torn African country. There’s no doubt that Sudan is infiltrated by jihadists loyal to al Qaeda and now the call by the most wanted man in the world may just spark them into carrying out their evil intensions.
Image Source: Bloodwater Mission
Source: The New York Times
