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UN Darfur Envoy: Negotiations in Coming Months Vital to
Associated Press
Prevent a 'New Generation of Conflict'
May 18, 2007The U.N. envoy to Darfur said Friday that the international community must mount a "massive effort" to bring a political solution to the conflict in Darfur in the next few months or risk submerging the region in a "new generation of conflict." Jan Eliasson said many of the rebel groups in the region have already told him they are committed to finding a political solution to the conflict and know it cannot be resolved militarily. "The next few months are a period where we have to have a massive effort to find a political solution," Eliasson told reporters at U.N. headquarters. He warned that while there has been a sharp decrease in clashes between the Sudanese government and rebel groups, the original adversaries in the western Sudan region, new sources of insecurity are emerging. Most of the current fighting is between African and Arab tribes and even among Arab tribes, not with the government, he said. "If we don't deal with the Darfur situation, this other activity will turn into a new problem, which is beyond the negotiation format we are creating," Eliasson warned. This inter-tribal fighting is "what I call a new generation of conflict," he said.
He also warned of an increasing radicalization among people in refugee camps outside Sudan's borders and in camps inside Sudan for displaced people, which could undermine a negotiated power-sharing plan between the government and the rebels. Eliasson laid out a three-phase plan for the political process. First, he said, all previous peace initiatives, many proposed by Sudan's neighbors and regional powers, should be consolidated, with the United Nations and the African Union taking the lead. The U.N. and the AU have led peacekeeping negotiations with the Sudanese government. They recently secured the government's assent to the deployment of 3,000 U.N. troops, helicoters and other heavy equipment to support the 7,000 beleaguered African Union troops in Darfur. The poorly equipped and underfunded African peacekeepers have been unable to end the four-year conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes.
In the second phase of the political process, Eliasson said, disparate rebel groups must coordinate their positions to decide on a cohesive set of demands. In his talks with various rebel leaders, he said, he has already received "surprisingly similar answers" regarding what they want from the Sudanese government. He expressed hope that regional leaders and other U.N. envoys would facilitate meetings among the rebel leaders.
The last phase will be negotiations between the government and the rebels. Eliasson said that he expected a cease-fire to accompany the beginning of negotiations.
"We have said we expect them to cease hostilities" during the negotiations, "and they have not denied that that is the logical conclusion," he said. Eliasson said he hoped the first phase would be completed in the next few weeks and the second sometime during the summer. He did not say when negotiations might begin.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said time was running out on Darfur, and the Sudanese must cooperate quickly with U.N. peacekeeping proposals or face sanctions. "The patience of the international community, particularly the United States, is running out," he told The Associated Press Friday. "We are considering our own sanctions, but also working with others towards international sanctions to bring about a change in policy and more cooperation on the ground from the Sudanese government."
When asked about whether he thought Security Council sanctions would help or impede political negotiations, Eliasson responded, "Drums in the background can sometimes be helpful." A negotiated solution to the conflict should not mark the end of international involvement in Darfur, Eliasson stressed. After the negotiations, he said world leaders must invest in development projects, especially in irrigation to fight decertification, which has contributed to the conflict by squeezing access to land suitable for farming and grazing. He lamented that a fraction of the money spent on humanitarian aid to Darfur - $700 million a year - would be sufficient to "change the map of Darfur" if it were invested in irrigation, health clinics and schools. "I hope the world doesn't leave Darfur once we have a cease-fire," he said.
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