The EU's security chief arrives in Sudan as Darfur comes again into international focus, writes Gamal Nkrumah Javier Solana, the European Union's security chief, paid visit to Sudan this week. The visit, an especially significant event, comes at a time when the security situation has worsened in Sudan's war-torn western province of Darfur. The international community has belatedly woken up to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Darfur. Solana stressed to his hosts that Europe and the entire international community is alarmed by the escalation of violence. The world's attention has been refocussed on events in Darfur because of the kidnapping and murder in cold blood of African Union (AU) peace-keepers. The AU held an emergency meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to discuss Darfur. AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare expressed his outrage at the "extremely alarming degradation of the situation on the ground in Darfur". He condemned the perpetrators of the atrocities in Darfur -- a dissident group of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of the main armed opposition groups in Darfur. Last Saturday's deaths were the first AU casualties in the powder-keg region. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan also expressed "grave concern". He stressed that the only way to resolve the Darfur crisis was "through a political settlement". Partly because of increased international pressure, dissident Darfur groups released 36 members of the AU peace-keeping force this week. Members of a splinter JEM faction headed by Mohamed Saleh committed the atrocities. "We kicked him out almost six months ago, and right now he is in Chad," Mohamed Tugod, secretary-general of JEM, said on Sunday. The other main Darfur armed opposition group, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), is also implicated in the violence. The ugly spectre of violence has spread across much of Darfur, a territory the size of France. And much of the violence, according to AU officials, is in territory held by the SLA. The AU warned SLA Secretary-General Mini Minawi Arkoi of the escalating violence in SLA-controlled territory. The onus is now on the armed opposition groups. In the past, the Sudanese government came under intense pressure for fomenting trouble in the war-torn western Sudanese region. However, the logic ought not to be taken too far: the Janjaweed militias, previously aligned to the Sudanese government, have had a terrible reputation of spreading terror among innocent civilians and indigenous peoples in Darfur. Settling old scores has become a way of life. The cycle of violence and counter-violence has intensified. This does not bring hope to Sudan and indeed could upturn a fragile national balance. "No marked progress towards a lasting, comprehensive solution will be made unless the key figures in these rebel movements return to Darfur and organise broad-based conferences to resolve their leadership disputes," warned the International Crisis Group. "Khartoum will exploit their weaknesses at the negotiating table," it explained in a recently released report. Solana returned to Sudan on Sunday after meeting Chadian President Idris Deby in Ndjamena, the Chadian capital. Deby has accused the Sudanese of making incursions into Chadian territory, killing innocent villagers and looting refugee camps and villages. The Sudanese, in turn, say that armed opposition groups use Chadian territory to launch campaigns against the Sudanese government forces. The EU has earmarked $687 million for humanitarian relief assistance for victims of the Darfur crisis. It has also set aside funds for logistical support for the AU peace-keeping mission to Darfur. There are currently more than 6,000 troops deployed in Darfur, mainly from Nigeria and Rwanda. The AU plans to double its force in early 2006. The sixth round of Darfur peace talks began in the Nigerian capital Abuja in September, but the negotiators have failed to reach a breakthrough. "We are concerned about the slowness or lack of progress in the Abuja peace process," Annan said this week. The shaky ceasefire is a constant concern for the international community. The various armed groups in Darfur have in the past attacked humanitarian relief workers. Almost 11,000 aid workers are stationed in Darfur. The UN special envoy to Sudan, Jan Egeland, recently warned that the UN may have to pull out of Darfur because of the rapidly deteriorating security situation. By far the most important step the Sudanese government can take is to improve surveillance of the security situation in Darfur. In this, it must cooperate more closely with the AU peace- keeping troops. The armed resistance groups of Darfur are now in the spotlight. They, too, are now accused of being part and parcel of the wider community of Sudanese blackguards. There is an understanding by all parties that there must be more transparency and a willingness to communicate more openly. In Khartoum, Solana met with Sudanese First Vice- President Salva Kiir and Second Vice-President Ali Othman Mohamed Taha. Solana could not meet Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Beshir, however. Topping the agenda was the deplorable situation in Darfur. Solana said that vigilance is now needed. The incorporation of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and its armed wing, the SPLA, in the Sudanese armed forces has had no immediate positive results on the Darfur crisis. However, SPLM leaders, including the movement's leader Salva Kiir, have made it clear that next to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of war-torn southern Sudan, resolving the conflict in Darfur is a top priority. In a separate, but related development, a southern Sudanese militia formerly aligned to Al-Beshir's regime reached a deal with the new Sudanese government of national unity this week. Paulino Matep, leader of the South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF) said he would work closely with the Sudanese authorities and almost 7,000 former SSDF soldiers will now be incorporated into the Sudanese army. The SSDF waged a bitter struggle against SPLA hegemony over the southern Sudanese countryside and they were closely aligned with the Sudanese armed forces. It is hoped that as the southern Sudanese factions have settled their differences and mended fences with the Sudanese authorities, the armed opposition groups of Darfur will choose a similar path of peace.
