Sudan is giving the UN the runaround and the patience of the US is fast running out, writes Gamal Nkrumah Last Saturday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that urged the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to set up an international committee to investigate charges of human rights violations in Darfur. Annan's response was prompt and categorical. "I shall do so with all speed," he said. Annan added that "the world must act now in Darfur." Annan extolled the mediation efforts of the African Union (AU), which has sent a peace-keeping and monitoring force to Darfur, but the UN secretary-general also pointed out that the international community must recognise the "limitations" of the AU. The Pan-African Organisation is strapped for cash and its operation in Darfur is saddled with logistical problems. United States President George W Bush urged the Sudanese government to honour the ceasefire agreement it concluded with the two main armed opposition groups in Darfur, namely the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), in the Chadian capital Ndjamena earlier this year in April. US politicians, from both the Democratic and Republican camps, have stepped up their campaign to bring Sudan to book. Democratic Senator John Corzine called on the US to increase pressure on Khartoum and increase American and international media coverage of the Darfur crisis. Corzine and the Congressional Black Caucus have urged Congress to meet on Sudan before its recess in early October. The Sudanese government is receptive to the idea of collaborating with the AU, but it is opposed to Western military intervention. Khartoum warned against the US or another Western power dispatching peace-keeping forces to Darfur, as that would be an infringement on Sudanese sovereignty. Pluralist democracy and political reform top the agenda of the NDA. The NDA wants to discuss with the Sudanese government the mechanisms of a return of civil liberties in Sudan, the separation of religion from the state and the independence of the judiciary and the drafting of a new constitution. Amnesty International called this week for an international arms embargo on Khartoum because it claimed the pro- Sudanese government Arabised militias in Darfur better known as the Janjaweed are infiltrating refugee camps and in some instances running and guarding the camps much to the consternation of the refugees and displaced people. The Janjaweed are being blamed by Western governments and humanitarian relief agencies for instigating the Darfur crisis. The UN and rights and relief organisations have warned about urgency of the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur. These international organisations say that the dire situation is such that a constant flow of plentiful supplies of food and medical relief supplies is needed. Millions of lives are at stake. The people of Darfur were not able to make use of the plentiful rainfall this year as hundreds of thousands were herded into refugee camps in neighbouring Chad and in camps for displaced people in Darfur itself. No crops were planted this year, which means that the humanitarian catastrophe will last for at least another year. It is in this context that leading members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting in Cairo this week have put Darfur on top of their agenda. The leading figures of the NDA, the umbrella grouping of mainly northern opposition parties and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the country's most powerful armed opposition group based in the south, have been conducting daily meetings in Cairo in preparation for the negotiations between the Sudanese government and the NDA scheduled for 28 September. The negotiations are sponsored by the Egyptian government and Egypt is hosting the talks. "We in the NDA are looking forward to negotiating with the Sudanese government next week," Farouk Abu-Eissa, former Sudanese foreign minister and former head of the Cairo-based Arab Lawyers Union told Al-Ahram Weekly. Abu-Eissa, who is the official spokesman of the NDA, stressed that the NDA is especially grateful for the good offices of the Egyptian government. "Both sides trust Egypt as an honest broker for peace. We know that the Egyptians have the best interests of the Sudanese at heart," Abu-Eissa said. The Sudanese government and the NDA had a preliminary meeting in Cairo on 30 August in preparation for next week's talks. The talks which are expected to break up shortly before the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan which commences on 15 October, are to touch on a number of issues of vital concern for the Sudanese people. Sudanese Minister of State for Unitary Affairs Nafie Ali Nafie -- who headed the government's delegation at last month's meeting -- will again head the Sudanese government delegation while Abdul-Rahman Said will lead the NDA delegation. The Sudanese government has signed two historic agreements with the Sudanese opposition groups. The two deals are the Jeddah agreement which was signed by Sudanese Vice President Ali Othman Mohamed Taha and the NDA Chairman Mohamed Othman Al-Mirghani in Saudi Arabia , while the Naivasha peace protocols was signed by the Sudanese government and the SPLA. The two agreements are widely regarded as blueprints for Sudanese political stability. The first mainly dealing with northern opposition groups and the second with the southern Sudanese. The armed opposition groups in Darfur want to conclude similar deals with the Sudanese government which would govern relations between the government and western Sudan. The SLA, now a full fledged member of the NDA, is sending representatives who are scheduled to arrive in Cairo in the next few days to participate in negotiations with the Sudanese government. The other main armed Darfur opposition group, JEM, will not officially take part in the Cairo talks.
