AP News, May 19th, 2007
The international community must soon find a political solution to the conflict in Darfur or risk submerging the region in a "new generation of conflict," the U.N. special envoy for Darfur said Friday.
Jan Eliasson said many of the rebel groups in the region have told him they are committed to finding a political solution to the four-year conflict and know it can't 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.
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.
The Darfur conflict began when members of Darfur's ethnic African tribes rebelled against what they consider decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum. Sudanese leaders are accused of unleashing the pro-government Arab militia, the janjaweed, that has committed many of the conflict's atrocities _ a charge they deny.
Most of the current fighting is between African and Arab tribes and even among Arab tribes, not with the government, Eliasson 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 said.
Eliasson laid out a three-phase plan for the political process to proceed.
First, he said, all previous peace initiatives should be consolidated, with the United Nations and the African Union taking the lead.
In the second phase, Eliasson said, disparate rebel groups must coordinate their positions to decide on a cohesive set of demands.
The third phase would be negotiations between the government and the rebels. Eliasson said that he expected a cease-fire to accompany the beginning of negotiations.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said time was growing short 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," Khalilzad said. "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."
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Associated Press Writer Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report from the United Nations.
