Daily Darfur: Progress Towards Peace, or Playing Charades?

by Michelle

category: Daily Darfur

Published July 13, 2009 @ 03:10AM PT

Egypt jumped (more completely) into the ring of those trying to broker a peace deal between the government of Sudan and the rebels in Darfur, hosting seven rebel groups for a three-day conference and meeting with Sudansese President Omar al-Bashir on Sunday. The head of Egypt's intelligence agency urged the rebel groups to "unite their viewpoints and their ranks." (Creating a mega-group? Surely, exactly what the government of Sudan wants.)

The conference was a bit of a departure from fellow-Arab League state Qatar's high-profile attempts to lead the Darfur peace process, as Qatar has focused mostly on reaching out to the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Darfur's largest rebel group, who were notably absent from the Egyptian meetings.

Which, of course, begs several questions:

1. Given that Egypt is known to be a bit resentful of Qatar's rising prominence in the region, is the Egyptian conference complimentary, or is Egypt trying to steal Qatar's thunder?
2. And for that matter, are any of the various conference, talks, panels, and delegations --- US, UN, AU, Qatar, Egypt, etc etc --- complimentary, or is everyone scrambling for their own Nobel Peace Prize?
3. And what is the role of the government of Sudan in all of the above? Is there a meaningful commitment to peace, or are they able to show good grace in public and distract the international community by going making the appearance of positive participation, all the while going about business as usual knowing that the uncoordinated peace efforts will continue to run in circles?

In sum: Do the various peace talks have any chance of achieving their professed goals, or do they simply amount to an international dog and pony show?

Quickies

The African Union is a tad unhappy with Reuters at the moment, after they misrepresented Thabo Mbeki's comments on the ICC: Reuters reported that the AU panel on Darfur, led by Mbeki, had given tempered support to the arrest warrant for Bashir and others. Reuters had to retract the article after the AU clarified that Mbeki had, in fact, not issued an opinion on the ICC, but does support a deferral of the warrant while peace processes are ongoing.

The Washington Post reports that UNAMID is still waiting for helicopters desperately needed for the force to, you know, do its job.

Following a visit to a slavery dungeon in Ghana, President Obama remarked:

"I think it's important that the way we think about it, the way it's taught, is not one in which there's simply a victim and a victimizer, and that's the end of the story. I think the way it has to be thought about, the reason it's relevant, is whether it's what's happening in Darfur or what's happening in the Congo or what's happening in too many places around the world, the capacity for cruelty still exists."

Officials are in contact with two humanitarian aid workers abducted in Darfur last week, as they continue to negotiate their release.

Mia Farrow apologized to MPs in the UK after a fan spammed their fax machines with pages from her website on Darfur.

[Photo from AFP: Rebels of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) ride in the back of a pick-up truck in El-Fasher, the administrative capital of north Darfur, in 2008. Egypt on Sunday urged rebel groups in war-torn Darfur to unite to help end the fighting which has plagued the western Sudanese province since 2003, the official MENA news agency reported.]