Darfur Islamic militants emerge as key to east Sudan peace

KASSALA – Rebels from arid eastern Sudan are due finally to start peace talks with Khartoum next week but the exclusion of Darfur-based Islamic militants may bring yet more misery to the long-neglected region.

The Eastern Front, comprising rebels from the region’s largest ethnic group – the Beja – and Rashidiya Arabs, are taking part in the negotiations in the Eritrean capital. But the meeting’s outcome may be decided by the increasingly effective Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a moderate Islamist rebel group hitherto mainly active in the western region of Darfur, where it rejected a peace deal signed by the larger Sudan Liberation Movement last month.The Eastern Front controls a slice of territory on the Sudanese-Eritrean border around the town of Hamesh Koreb and has been involved in low-intensity guerrilla activity against the Khartoum government for years.While the Eastern Front has similar aims to its counterparts in Darfur – autonomy and greater control over their region’s resources – their newfound allies in the JEM demand a seat on the presidency, key to eventual national power.The latest attack, on a government convoy on May 2, is believed to have been carried out by the JEM alone.Suliman Baldo of Brussels-based think-tank, the International Crisis Group, told AFP that such attacks showed the JEM could thwart the peace process in the east if its demands were not satisfied.”The attack on May 2 shows the potential for spoiler action in eastern Sudan, that there could be an even greater conflict because the government is not going to invite the JEM to negotiations in Asmara,” he said.”They may be inclined to do more operations like this.”A Western security contractor familiar with the situation said the JEM fighters in the area were also showing unprecedented expertise.”They don’t attack humanitarian convoys but the last two attacks were something new, they used the weather and the terrain.”They know that when there’s a sandstorm the helicopter gunships can’t fly, so the next time there’s a sandstorm, they will hit.”Kassala State governor Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid told AFP that the JEM had no place in peace talks for the east, which he predicted could be concluded swiftly if only the Eastern Front took part.”I think when we start peace talking for the east, it will be very easy because the things now are very clear and the foundation has been readied,” he said.Baldo said it was clear Khartoum wanted the talks to be held as far from the international spotlight as possible to avoid the sort of Western involvement that characterised the negotiations with Darfur rebels in Abuja.- Nampa-AFPBut the meeting’s outcome may be decided by the increasingly effective Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a moderate Islamist rebel group hitherto mainly active in the western region of Darfur, where it rejected a peace deal signed by the larger Sudan Liberation Movement last month.The Eastern Front controls a slice of territory on the Sudanese-Eritrean border around the town of Hamesh Koreb and has been involved in low-intensity guerrilla activity against the Khartoum government for years.While the Eastern Front has similar aims to its counterparts in Darfur – autonomy and greater control over their region’s resources – their newfound allies in the JEM demand a seat on the presidency, key to eventual national power.The latest attack, on a government convoy on May 2, is believed to have been carried out by the JEM alone.Suliman Baldo of Brussels-based think-tank, the International Crisis Group, told AFP that such attacks showed the JEM could thwart the peace process in the east if its demands were not satisfied.”The attack on May 2 shows the potential for spoiler action in eastern Sudan, that there could be an even greater conflict because the government is not going to invite the JEM to negotiations in Asmara,” he said.”They may be inclined to do more operations like this.”A Western security contractor familiar with the situation said the JEM fighters in the area were also showing unprecedented expertise.”They don’t attack humanitarian convoys but the last two attacks were something new, they used the weather and the terrain.”They know that when there’s a sandstorm the helicopter gunships can’t fly, so the next time there’s a sandstorm, they will hit.”Kassala State governor Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid told AFP that the JEM had no place in peace talks for the east, which he predicted could be concluded swiftly if only the Eastern Front took part.”I think when we start peace talking for the east, it will be very easy because the things now are very clear and the foundation has been readied,” he said.Baldo said it was clear Khartoum wanted the talks to be held as far from the international spotlight as possible to avoid the sort of Western involvement that characterised the negotiations with Darfur rebels in Abuja.- Nampa-AFP