Posted on 12-8-2004

Sudan Helped By Arab Nations

Sudan won help from Arab countries on Sunday in its attempt to head off
sanctions the United Nations has threatened to impose if it fails to rein
in militias accused of atrocities in the Darfur region.

In a statement released after an emergency meeting in Cairo, the Arab
League said on Sunday night that Sudan needed more time to end the crisis
and that sanctions would "only result in negative effects for the whole
Sudanese people and complicate the crisis in Darfur".

The UN security council has set a deadline of August 29 for Sudan to show
it is serious about disarming nomadic Arab militias engaged in a 15-month
conflict with black African farmers that has killed at least 50 000 people
and displaced more than a million, according to UN estimates.

Khartoum has portrayed sanctions as Western meddling -- an argument that
resonates with Arab public opinion.

Ahead of Sunday's meeting, the Arab League secretary-general, Amr Moussa,
told reporters the league would produce a "clear Arab stand on how to deal
with the Darfur crisis, on the Arab countries' support of Sudan and
avoiding possible international sanctions". But New York-based Human
Rights Watch urged the league to put pressure on Sudan, not protect it.

"Allowing the Sudanese government to hide its crimes behind Arab
solidarity would be an insult," a spokesperson said.

Sudan's cabinet endorsed an agreement requiring Khartoum to create safe
areas in Darfur within 30 days so civilians could search for food and
water and work their land without fear of attack.

The plan would halt all military operations by government forces,
militias, and rebel groups in these safe areas. Under the agreement, the
government will approach "militias over whom it has influence and instruct
them to cease their activities forthwith and lay down their weapons".

The African Union, which is sending ceasefire monitors to Darfur, said on
Sunday Sudan and two rebel groups had agreed to peace talks on August 23
-- though the rebels told Reuters they had been given no date.

The proposed talks are described as the continuation of a political
dialogue started in Addis Ababa on July 15 under the auspices of the AU.
Those talks failed when the rebels set six conditions for negotiations
that were rejected by Khartoum.

On Sunday night the main rebel group in southern Sudan, which is locked in
a separate conflict with the government, offered to provide 10 000 troops
as peacekeepers in the Darfur. The Sudan People's Liberation Army proposed
a 30 000-strong peacekeeping force to "prevent genocide" in Darfur. Its
leader, John Garang, said a third of the force could consist of Sudanese
troops, while his group and international forces would provide a third
each.

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