In Darfur, Dina Ezzat finds fear is ever present while efforts continue to return a semblance of normality to the war-torn region "I have no home. It was the war. My house was burnt down. My house is still not built. I just came to watch the houses built today," said Fatemah, a 24-year-old Darfurian woman from the state of Jenina, west Sudan. With her distinct bronze skin and tall figure, Fatemah looks like a model typical to the most exclusive catwalks of Paris. But in real life she is just one of thousands of African-Darfurians who suffered acute injustice at the hands of Sudan's central government that started with neglected development and mounted to serious brutalities as Darfur rebels took up arms against the Khartoum regime and its militias. The suffering of Fatemah and other African-Darfurians in the west side of Darfur was harsher, independent human rights organisations assess, than those sustained by Arab- Darfurians in the north and most of the south of Darfur. However, nowhere in Darfur has been spared violence, including during the past seven years what the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court deems crimes against humanity, and maybe even genocide. Over 200,000 Darfurians are estimated to have been killed in the civil war that started in 2003 when the two main rebel groups of the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement decided to fight against the injustice of the Khartoum regime and the attacks of the Khartoum supported Janjaweed militias. Fatemah is one of close to three million people who were displaced internally or sent to refugee camps out of Sudan, especially in neighbouring Chad. Last Saturday, as she watched a few hundred of the inhabitants of Habila Canali village, in Jeninah, celebrate the opening of some houses that have been rebuilt by the Arab League, Fatemah said she was "really hoping" for a day "soon" when she too can return to a house in her village that she says was almost burnt down entirely by the Janjaweed before it was emptied of everyone. The opening of over 50 houses and some basic services centres -- including a clinic, school and water station -- in Jeninah was a key event in the attempts of the Arab League to reach out to Darfur and to help the Sudanese regime to make up for the suffering of Darfurians by allowing for development and ending impunity. On Saturday and Sunday, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and representatives of the 22 member states of the pan-Arab organisation joined the chair of the Darfur Provisional Government, Mini Minawi, local leaders and UNAMID (UN-African Union Mission in Darfur) Commissioner Ibrahim Gambari in opening the houses, clinics, water stations and other services in facilities in north, south and west Darfur. In every stop on the way, Darfurians gathered to join in, maybe to rejoice a little but also to learn if there would be more to come from the Arab League. Fatemah did not get to speak to Moussa, she heard him as he promised before an assembly of Darfur and Khartoum representatives that the "Arab League will continue to work with all concerned to help bring Darfur back to normality". Fatemah's hope of normality does not require much: a roof over her head and that of her family, a couple of cows and a donkey, a field, and some basic services including water and healthcare. Electricity, she said, would be a luxury. Above all, Fatemah needs safety. While open war may have abated, for the time being, she still sees and hears of enough incidents to make her think that Darfur's troubles are not over yet. Help promoting a peaceful and negotiated end to the struggle between the Khartoum regime and Darfur's rebels was a commitment undertaken by the Arab League Council that held an extraordinary meeting at Al-Fahser, north of Darfur, last Sunday. It was also a key issue in talks that the Arab League delegation held Sunday evening in Khartoum with President Omar Al-Bashir and his senior aides. Arab League officials insist that there are good chances that the Doha talks could eventually produce a peace deal between the Khartoum regime and most -- if not all -- of the Darfur rebels. They insist that the regime of Al-Bashir is being forthcoming, mostly, about reaching a "balanced" deal that grants Darfurians fair wealth and power sharing. However, these same officials acknowledge that it is not easy for a deal to be struck by Qatari mediators, mainly due to the divided positions of the Darfur rebels. Officials in Khartoum say they are hopeful that recently improved relations between Sudan and Chad -- Darfur's immediate neighbour whose regime was accused by Al-Bashir of supporting the Darfur rebels -- could strengthen the will of Darfur leaders to come to terms. While awaiting a peace deal to fall into place, the Arab League is determined to continue its reconstruction work. Samir Hosni, a senior aide to Moussa on Sudan, said that the "work will definitely be continued on the developmental and political fronts". Moussa himself said before leaving Darfur that he plans another trip to Darfur. "This week's trip to Darfur was not just about the opening of houses and services; it was also about sending a clear message to the people of Darfur that the Arab League is there for them, and also sending a message to the Arab countries that they need to put in more efforts to support Darfur," said Hosni. Youssef Ahmed, permanent representative of Syria to the Arab League and who had originally proposed the idea of an extraordinary Arab League Council meeting in Darfur, said that Arab countries "need to do much more to help Darfur". "We cannot give up on Darfur because if we do, others -- including Israel -- would try to fill the vacuum." Relations between Israel and some key Darfur leaders have been exposed during the past year. Arab diplomats admit that, "a hesitant reaction to the tragedy of the Darfurians on the Arab side was used by Israel." Delayed and limited Arab support for Darfur is a complaint that Darfurian leaders and the Khartoum regime share. They also both fear that more rigorous Arab engagement now will be short lived. In 2004, the Arab League delegated a fact-finding committee that issued a controversial report on the humanitarian plight in Darfur. The pioneering report angered the Khartoum regime for having acknowledged the deteriorated humanitarian situation. It was not well received by Darfurian leaders either. They argued that the Arab League deliberately underestimated the humanitarian crisis they say the regime of Al-Bashir brought down on them. For its part, Egypt says it will not give up on Darfur. Egypt's permanent representative to the Arab League, Hazem Khayrat, said that Cairo is working seriously to support a negotiated peace deal that would bring back stability to Darfur. A donors conference that Egypt is planning to host on 21 March, in cooperation with the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), is a clear example, Khayrat said, of this commitment, "not to mention the direct assistance" Cairo has given Darfur. Despite such encouraging talk, nobody is expecting a negotiated peace deal on Darfur to come about easily. On the contrary, some fear that the current semblance of normality in Darfur will soon end. Some Western diplomats have suggested that if President Al-Bashir manages to win the next elections, scheduled for 11 April, he would show less flexibility towards Darfur's rebels. Indeed, in a recent statement UNAMID called for maximum restraint by all parties in the wake of recent clashes that "left many dead and caused thousands to flee their homes." The continuation of fighting, Gambari warned, "may negatively affect the ongoing peace process that has recently seen significant strides towards bringing stability to the region."
