AFRICA/SUDAN - New hopes for peace in Darfur: “We are willing to respect a unilateral cease fire in Darfur as soon as negotiations with the rebels commence” says Sudan's President on a visit to Italy and the Vatican

Roma (Agenzia Fides)- “We are willing to respect a unilateral cease fire in Darfur as soon as negotiations with the rebels in Darfur commence”. This was announced by the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan al-Bashir at the end of talks with Italian premier Romano Prodi. The Sudanese head of state is visiting Italy and today 14 September he will be received by Pope Benedict XVI.
The central issue of the visit is the crisis in the west region of Sudan, where civilians are harassed by pro-government militia (backed by the country's air force and army) and rebel groups. For a long time the international community has worked to find a solution to one of the worst African crises with that in Somalia and that in eastern DR Congo. On 27 October Tripoli, in Libya will host peace talks between the government of Khartoum and the rebels.
The conflict in Darfur began officially on 26 February 2003 when Khartoum announced that rebels had taken the region's main city Gulu. In March two rebel movements came into the open, the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement, calling for repartition of power and the country's resources.
The conflict started with clashes often violent between the Fur, the original inhabitants of the region (hence the name Darfur, “house of the Fur”), and nomads of Arab origin who settled in the region in recent decades. “Clashes between the Fur farmers and the 'foreign' herdsmen for control of the scarce water reserves and fertile land would break out periodically. Arguments were often solved with traditional tribal mediation” Italian Comboni missionary Fr Giovanni Battista Antonini, with years of experience in Sudan, told Fides (see Fides 8 July 2004). The problem then assumed a political character because “the Fur had long accused the central government of neglecting the region denying it means for development - there are no roads or hospitals - and two rebel movements formed in opposition to the government”.
The government's reaction was to organise the Arab herdsmen in pro-government militia, the now notorious 'devils on horseback' Janjaweed, to conduce violence anti-guerrilla operations, adopting the 'scorched land' strategy. The target was the civilian population wrongly or rightly accused of siding with the rebels. Whole villages were destroyed and the people massacred (more than 200,000 dead). Those who survived live in camps for displaced persons in the region (about 2 million) or in refugee camps in neighbouring Chad (over 200,000 people).
Sudan accused other countries of supporting the rebellion in order to destabilise the country and lay hands on Darfur's real or presumed riches (including virgin oil fields).
In August 2004, the African Union began to deploy peace keeping troops, a mere 7,000 men with the job of controlling an area as large as France. Thanks to international mediation on 5 May 2006 the Sudanese government and the principal faction of the SLM sign a peace agreement. A minority faction of the movement and the other rebel group JEM, refuse to sign the agreement. On 31 August 2006 the United Nations Organisation agrees to send 20,000 peacekeepers to replace the African Union Mission in the region. Khartoum refuses and this is the start of lengthy negotiations which lead on 12 June 2007, to the Sudan government acceptance of the deployment of a UN/AU peacekeeping force. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 14/9/2007 righe 46 parole 616)