From Mauritania in the far west to Sudan in the east, the Sahel and Saharan belts of Africa are seething with tensions, writes Gamal Nkrumah Behind the confusion A Libyan peace initiative seeks to calm the restive Sahel, with Darfur high on the agenda On Tuesday, President Hosni Mubarak flew to Libya to attend a mini-African summit at which debating the crisis in Darfur topped the agenda. The host, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, graciously received his distinguished African guests -- some of them sworn enemies. Gaddafi was playing the peacemaker, a difficult task, but one he just about managed to pull off. He did get Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Beshir and his Chadian counterpart Idris Debby, barely on speaking terms, to suffer a tête-à-tête -- it turned out to be a fruitful ordeal. Flush with oil money, Libya is keen on exerting its influence in Africa, and especially in the Sahel region which includes Darfur and other areas where tensions between ethnic Arabs and non-Arab indigenous groups are fast spreading. "Action must be taken immediately to stop a full blown humanitarian rights crisis in southeastern Chad," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour. Mayhem among the Sahel's Arabs has long been a concern of the Libyans. The tribes of southern Libya -- Arab, Tuareg, Zaghawa and Tebu freely roam the Sahara and sprawling Sahel belt of Africa which straddles the entire continent from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The problems of Darfur could spread like wildfire throughout this vast region. The Libyans want to ensure that such a scenario never comes to fruition. The Libyan leader has always been something of a political gambler, and that often entails dramatic gestures. He also, however, has vision and political foresight and the financial clout to back up President Al-Bashir of Sudan. Another former foe of the Sudanese leader, Eritrean President Isaias Aferworki, also attended the summit. He had mended fences with his Sudanese counterpart, and was instrumental in the signing of a peace accord between the Sudanese government and the armed opposition groups of eastern Sudan, the Beja Congress and the ethnic Rashaida Arab Free Lions. The Eritrean president also managed to get at least two armed opposition groups to hold peace talks with the Sudanese authorities in the Eritrean capital Asmara. The two Darfur groups, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army, under the leadership of Abdel-Wahid Mohamed Nour, had formed a pact named the National Redemption Front (NRF). They had rejected a peace accord signed in the Nigerian capital Abuja between the Sudanese government and another Darfur group -- a rival SLA faction under the leadership of Minni Arko Minnawi. The Libyan meeting is intended to bring the Sudanese protagonists together to cement the Darfur peace process and ease tensions. Libya is also trying to break the ice between the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Union of Islamic Courts which is now effectively governing much of southern and central Somalia. For the Libyan government, the main opportunity now seems to lie abroad. Libya is also trying to seek a rapprochment between Sudan on the one hand and Chad and the Central African Republic on the other. The two countries have accused Khartoum of meddling in their domestic affairs by backing armed opposition groups. There are regional fears that the conflict in Darfur will spill over into Sudan's western neighbours -- Chad and the Central African Republic. Chad and the Central African Republic, two countries that border Darfur, are deploying forces on their borders with Sudan's westernmost, war-torn Darfur province. The Chadian and Central African authorities claim that the insurgencies raging in the easten and northern reaches of their respective countries are backed by the Sudanese government, a charge vehemently denied by Khartoum. The Sudanese authorities have long argued that success in the Darfur peace talks will be elusive without greater efforts from both Arab and Western countries. Egypt, too, has a vested interest in resolving the Darfur crisis. Egypt advocates a "third way" in which peacekeepers from Arab and Muslim nations complement the African Union peacekeepers already stationed in Darfur. Egypt's position is anchored on the strengthening of Sudanese sovereignty and territorial integrity. Like Libya, Egypt would rather not contemplete the possibility of deploying international troops in Darfur. Egypt is, however, aware that disillusionment with the Sudanese government in Western Sudan is widespread. Egypt has long kept lines of communications open with Sudanese opposition groups, including some of Darfur's armed opposition groups. In a separate but related development, Sudanese First Vice President Salva Kiir flew to Cairo yesterday for talks with President Mubarak. On the eve of the Libyan summit on Darfur, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa stressed that Arab countries must show greater committment to supporting the African Union peacekeeping forces in Darfur. Moussa urged Arab governments to speed up the financial contributions pledged at the last Arab League summit. Western nations and some of Sudan's African neighbours are applying intense pressure on the Sudanese authorities to peacefully resolve the Darfur crisis. "It is my hope now that the Sudanese government will accept this proposal because the situation in Sudan is not improving and it has the danger of getting much worse," United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said earlier this week when Sudan indicated that it was willing to be more flexible about expanding the role of the United Nations in Darfur. "The government of Sudan welcomes all financial, material, logistical or technical assistance from the UN in ordeer to strengthen the AU mission in Darfur," the Sudanese president announced in Libya. Rice, however, warned that the Sudanese authorities must "make right with the international system". Al-Bashir's reconciliatory remarks seemed to be contradicted by the Sudanese Defence Minister Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein who threatened that if foreign troops are deployed in Darfur the province will turn into the "invaders' graveyard".
