The meeting of Sudanese government officials and representatives of armed Darfur opposition groups in the Libyan capital Tripoli offers hope for the future, writes Gamal Nkrumah This week, a page of history was turned and the people of Darfur dared hope for a more peaceful and prosperous future. The deadlines have fallen like skittles, but the high hopes of the people of Darfur have not waned. The political climate in Khartoum itself was turbulent. A former presidential adviser, Mubarak Al-Fadel Al-Mahdi was accused of plotting a coup d'etat and there was talk of American instigation of the coup. Nevertheless, representatives of some 15 different Darfur armed and political opposition groups converged on the Libyan capital Tripoli in order to meet with members of the Sudanese government. The final communique was upbeat. "I think we now see the light at the end of the tunnel," Jan Eliasson, the United Nations chief envoy for Sudan told reporters in Tripoli at the end of the meeting. "We are very happy that this meeting has concluded with a strong message of peace," Eliasson stressed. The Sudanese authorities were equally sanguine. Heading the Sudanese government delegation was the Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Al-Simmani Al-Wassila who described the Tripoli meeting as "constructive, serious and sincere". If mere coming and going is a sign of progress, then there is much good in store for the long-suffering people of Darfur. In Tripoli, there were no handshakes, though. No warm embraces either. However, the readiness of the protagonists to sit and talk was a relief. Eliasson met with the African Union (AU) chief envoy for Sudan, Salim Ahmed Salim and Libya's Minister for African Affairs Ali Abdel-Salam Treiki. They resolved to dispatch a joint AU-UN peacekeeping force by October. Meanwhile, the participants at the Tripoli meeting agreed to meet again in the Tanzanian mountain resort of Arusha in early August. Many observers thought that the Tripoli meeting might mark another missed deadline. Amid mutual recriminations, accusations and counter-accusations, the Sudanese protagonists showed uncharacteristic restraint. There has been a flurry of political activity concerning Darfur. On the eve of the Tripoli meeting, the disparate Darfur political factions came together for consultations and to present a more uniform political platform. The United Front for Liberation and Development, representing several Darfur political groupings, was formed on 14 July in the Eritrean capital Asmara. Among the groups represented at the Tripoli conference were the Revolutionary Democratic Front Forces and the National Movement for Reform and Development. Also present were representatives of at least two factions of the Sudan Liberation Army. The list of names of Darfur groups was a confusing jumble, but there was a determination and consensus to play a constructive part at the Tripoli talks. The recent public display of brinkmanship in politics of negotiations was impressive. "The political situation on the ground is too fragile, the humanitarian crisis too dire, to waste more precious time," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon aptly summed up the circumstances in Darfur. The Sudanese government may have softened its stance a little, but it objected to a draft UN Security Council resolution to authorise the deployment of joint UN-AU peacekeeping force in Darfur. Sudan's UN Ambassador Abdel-Mahmoud Abdel-Halim Mohamed urged Security Council members to drop "irrelevant and alien issues" and to adopt a more "Sudan-friendly" resolution. The Sudanese objection, backed by the Chinese, might delay the deployment of AU-UN peacekeeping troops somewhat. But, this delay, however, is of little consequence to politicians but is a grave hardship for the people on the ground. Across a whole range of issues participants actually agreed. Although this is a positive development in many ways, the plight of the Darfur refugees must not be forgotten or ignored -- an exceptionally heavy rainy season adding to their misery. The host, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was ecstatic. And, despite his closeness to more than one Sudanese group, he did not champion one group against the other. He was instrumental in the success of the Tripoli talks, and basked in his role in paving the historical road to this extraordinary spectacle of Sudanese protagonists working together for peace. So is that it? Facilitating the return of the refugees and displaced people of Darfur is an absolute must. Let us call a spade a spade. The terrorist outrages that cost so many lives in the past five years in Darfur have been a bloody chapter in an underlying conflict over meagre resources between pastoralists and settled cultivators. The former are mainly Arabised tribes and the latter are indigenous non-Arab, albeit Muslim, people of Darfur. Generally, the government assisted the former and foreign powers, especially Western powers, have of late come to sympathise with the long-suffering indigenous non-Arab ethnic groups of Darfur. Whatever the past grievances, and most of these are perfectly valid, the Tripoli talks quickened the tempo of the Darfur peace process.
