Intensive diplomatic activity is being undertaken in an attempt to break the deadlock in Darfur, reports Doaa El-Bey Some parties, including the US, favour UN intervention. They want UN Security Council Resolution 1706, which calls for 20,000 UN peacekeepers to be sent to Darfur, to be implemented with or without the consent of the Sudanese government. Others prefer helping African Union (AU) peacekeeping forces currently deployed in Darfur with money and logistics. The real question is when will dialogue address the causes of the Darfur conflict and pave the way for development in the war-torn region? The Arab League appears to be taking a central role. Secretary-General Amr Moussa received two letters from the US Congress asking him to persuade the Sudanese government to allow UN peacekeeping forces into Darfur. Meantime, Othman Mirghany, head of the Sudanese National Democratic Union, asked the Arab League to provide more support for African Union (AU) peacekeeping forces. Meeting with Moussa in Cairo last week, Mirghany also asked Moussa to convince Arab states to provide the financial and logistical support they pledged during the Khartoum summit meeting in March. According to Hesham Youssef, chief of cabinet of the Arab League secretary-general, the league has put Sudan at the top of its list of priorities. "First, in order to implement the Abuja peace deal, we are working with the AU and other parties in convincing the factions that did not join the deal to do so. Second, we are exerting every effort to initiate development and rebuilding soon. Third, we are contacting Arab states to implement the Khartoum summit meeting recommendations. If we manage to resolve these issues, it would be easy to draw a plan for the security forces that could be deployed in the region after 31 December [when the AU mandate expires]," Youssef said. At present there are some 7000 under-funded and poorly equipped AU peacekeepers in Sudan. Ahmed Abu Zeid, of the Egyptian foreign minister's office, believes the priority should be boosting the Abuja deal, using constructive dialogue to reach factions that until now declined to join in. "Even the option of UN peacekeeping forces should not be discussed as a target in itself but as a tool towards boosting the Abuja peace deal," he said. Threats, or the imposition of a de facto solution on Khartoum, could lead to complete turmoil, warns Abu Zeid. "The fact that Resolution 1706 was issued hastily and before the consent of the Sudanese government is a recipe for confrontation and the failure of peacekeeping efforts," he added. All attempts, Abu Zeid said, to resolve the Darfur issue should be conducted within the framework of the Arab League and the AU. UN participation in boosting currently deployed AU forces is one option. An inter-Darfur meeting to be held soon is likely to open channels of dialogue between different factions, Abu Zeid noted. A preparatory meeting will be held later this month and attended by representatives from the Sudanese government, the AU, the UN and different factions in Darfur. Iglal Raafat, a political scientist at Cairo University, believes that although there are clear disagreements, even within the Sudanese government, on accepting UN peacekeeping forces, it is still possible to bridge the gap. Raafat advocates mediation by the UN. "Resolution 1706 is issued and it should be implemented. The Arab League and other factions should try to convince Sudanese President Bashir to at least implement the acceptable items in the resolution; those that do not encroach on Sudanese sovereignty or interfere in its internal affairs," she said. Raafat ruled out that the Abuja deal could be implemented at present. But "the Arab League and other parties could mediate between the government and the factions to bridge their differences," she said.
