UN envoy in Darfur to secure rebel support for peace deal

KHARTOUM – The top United Nations envoy in Sudan was expected in Darfur yesterday to urge rebel groups to sign a peace agreement reached in Abuja last week, a UN official told AFP.

“Jan Pronk will resume the efforts he started a week ago in Abuja. But now on the ground he will prod the rebels who didn’t sign the agreement to join the peace process,” said UN spokesman Bahaa Elkoussy.During his three-day tour, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s special representative in Sudan will visit North and South Darfur and hold talks with top government officials, tribal and community leaders as well as rebel commanders.A peace deal was signed Friday by the Sudanese government and the largest faction of the main Darfur rebel movement – the Sudan Liberation Movement – to end the three-year-old civil war in the impoverished western region.The conflict in Darfur erupted in February 2003 when rebels from minority tribes rose up against the central government in Khartoum, prompting a heavy-handed crackdown by troops and a proxy militia called the Janjaweed.The combined effect of war and famine has left up to 300 000 people dead and displaced more than two million.After his Darfur trip, Pronk will head to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to attend a meeting of the African Union peace and security council to discuss the future of the AU mission in Darfur.The United States and the world body have been pushing for the deployment of UN peacekeepers to take over from an embattled and cash-strapped contingent of AU troops.The UN’s emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, held talks with officials in Khartoum yesterday, after two days in Darfur during which he visited camps for displaced Darfuris.He had to retreat from one camp on Monday when a protest by Darfuris demanding international protection turned violent and resulted in the death of an AU interpreter.- Nampa-AFPBut now on the ground he will prod the rebels who didn’t sign the agreement to join the peace process,” said UN spokesman Bahaa Elkoussy.During his three-day tour, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s special representative in Sudan will visit North and South Darfur and hold talks with top government officials, tribal and community leaders as well as rebel commanders.A peace deal was signed Friday by the Sudanese government and the largest faction of the main Darfur rebel movement – the Sudan Liberation Movement – to end the three-year-old civil war in the impoverished western region.The conflict in Darfur erupted in February 2003 when rebels from minority tribes rose up against the central government in Khartoum, prompting a heavy-handed crackdown by troops and a proxy militia called the Janjaweed.The combined effect of war and famine has left up to 300 000 people dead and displaced more than two million.After his Darfur trip, Pronk will head to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to attend a meeting of the African Union peace and security council to discuss the future of the AU mission in Darfur.The United States and the world body have been pushing for the deployment of UN peacekeepers to take over from an embattled and cash-strapped contingent of AU troops.The UN’s emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, held talks with officials in Khartoum yesterday, after two days in Darfur during which he visited camps for displaced Darfuris.He had to retreat from one camp on Monday when a protest by Darfuris demanding international protection turned violent and resulted in the death of an AU interpreter.- Nampa-AFP