A key Darfur rebel faction said last week it would only take part in peace talks once UN forces have secured the war-ravaged region of Sudan and insisted on non-African troops in a new hybrid force.
"We have to suspend the conflict, which means security on the ground by a UN force. The killing is still going on", said Yahia Bolad, spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Movement's leader Abdelwahid Mohammad Nour.
"As soon as UN troops are on the ground, we are ready to negotiate, but that is our red line", Bolad told reporters in Cairo by telephone from his base in Britain.
The UN Security Council on July 31 authorized a 26,000-strong UN-African Union "hybrid" force for Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have died and 2.1 million have been displaced by four years of conflict in what has been described as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
About 7,000 African soldiers currently make up the African Union peacekeeping force that was first sent to Darfur in August 2004. But the troops, ill-equipped and underfunded, have been unable stem the violence and are often targeted by the warring parties.
Resolution 1769 says the hybrid force set to be the biggest-ever peacekeeping mission in the world should begin being deployed no later than December 31, although full deployment is not expected before mid-2008.
The African Union said last week it had commitments from African nations to contribute enough troops for the new hybrid force, but Bolad insisted troops must also come from Western countries.
"Troops from African countries affect the situation because maybe they have the same problems as are happening in Darfur, with human rights violations and dictatorships", he said, declining to say which countries he had in mind.
"That is why we prefer the hybrid force to be from Western countries, NATO", he said, insisting also that the logistics of the peacekeeping operation would be beyond the capacities of African states.
The United States has accused Khartoum of embarking on a "genocidal" campaign in Darfur, saying it was encouraging a militia there to brutally crack down on the population.
A peace deal was signed with the government in Abuja in May 2006 but only one rebel faction endorsed it, sparking deep divisions and a new surge in violence.
The SLM faction of Nour, the founding father of the rebellion and a member of Darfur's largest tribe, did not take part in peace talks attended by other rebels in Arusha earlier this month, insisting on a cease-fire ahead of negotiations.
The eight rebel groups at the talks agreed on a common platform for peace negotiations with the Sudanese government that they said could start within three months.
Unlike many of the other rebel leaders, Nour, who lives in exile in France, has broad popular support among Darfuri civilians, especially those displaced by fighting.
© Monday Morning 2007
