Daily Darfur: Rebels to Bashir Fan Club - "Nice Try, No Cigar."

To no big surprise, the Justice and Equality Movement, Darfur's most photogenic rebel group, rejected any new regional initiatives to negotiate peace between Darfur and the government, accusing various Arab and African governments of bias towards Khartoum. JEM pulled out of peace negotiations led by Qatar after Khartoum expelled 13 foreign aid agencies from Darfur, and has resisted efforts by Egypt and Libya to bring them back to the negotiating table.

"These regional initiatives come on the background of the African Union and Arab League plans aiming at suspending the International Criminal Court (ICC)'s arrest warrant against Al-Bashir," said JEM official spokesperson Ahmed Hussein Adam.

Adam further said these regional moves are motivated by rivalry and struggle for regional influence and hence complicate the conflict more than providing a real support for its solution.

"They are working to settle their differences at the expense of the people of Darfur and we call on them either to have a positive participation or stop interfering in the conflict," he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had unusually kind words for US President Barack Obama yesterday. Speaking at the opening of Parliament in Khartoum, Bashir said:

"We, our brothers and sisters, are seekers of peace and stability and we do not want our country to live under the shadows of swords and tension," President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said at the opening of the eighth session of parliament.

"Our hands remain held out to those who call for peace and justice in accordance with the standards of fairness and dignity," he added, echoing a phrase used by Obama in his inauguration address.

"We even welcome the positive signs sent by U.S. President Barack Obama to the Islamic world on more than one occasion."

(I bet Obama's speech writers never thought their words would be used by one of the world's most nefarious dictators.)

Bashir also used the opportunity to defend his decision to expel the humanitarian groups from Darfur --- a decision that could prove disastrous for millions, very soon --- but does the speech signal a new interest in cooperation with the US? We shall see...

Other items of note...

All's quiet on the western front: UNAMID reported that the security situation in Darfur is "relatively calm."

The Nigerian Business Day accuses the Arab League of racism and hypocrisy for demanding international justice for crimes committed in Palestine while embracing Bashir and ignoring his offensive against the people of Darfur.

In a rather alarming statement, the United People's Front (a group I'm not familiar with, but from the looks of the statement, is a pro-democracy group allied with a Darfur rebel movement) denounced a wave of arbitrary arrests of its student members:

"The students targeted by Sudan Security apparatus are sons and daughters of those killed, raped and displaced by Islamic genocidal regime in Khartoum. Hence; we appeal all peace loving nations to put pressure on the regime in Khartoum to stop the killings, immediately release the detainees, and not to allow the Darfur genocide to go unpunished when it comes to sustaining the quest for peace in Sudan."