Daily Darfur: Rebels Withdraw, Meet the Gov't in Doha

by Michelle . · 2009-05-29 04:24:00 UTC
Topics:

Heavy bombardment by the Sudanese military forced the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to withdraw from two settlements in North Darfur:

"JEM's announcement marked a reversal in the rebel force's recent push into the remote region, an advance that coincided with a deterioration of relations between the governments of Sudan and Chad, which Khartoum says supports JEM.

The development also came as faltering negotiations between Sudan's government and JEM resumed in Qatar. The discussions have so far not evolved into full peace talks."

JEM also announced its intent to release 60 government troops, currently being held prisoner, as a "sign of goodwill" ahead of the talks in Qatar. The current round of talks, which begin today, aims to secure a three- to six-month ceasefire agreement between the rebels and the government. (If history is destined to repeat itself, as it has so often in Sudan, I'm not holding out much hope until there's an effective mechanism to actually monitor and enforce such an agreement.)

International envoys have also converged on Doha for the meeting, including Scott Gration and his Chinese counterpart.

Quickies

Recent clashes in the tense South Kordofan province, which borders Darfur, have killed 244 people.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir traveled to Libya today for the summit of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (Cen-Sad).

[Photo from AFP: File photo shows an African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) peacekeeper looking out over North Darfur.]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
PREVIOUS STORY:
What Right Do We Have to Advocate on Darfur - Part 2
NEXT STORY:
Campaign about Apple Factories in China Gains Wide and Diverse Support

COMMENTS (0)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.