Darfur peace push slowed by splits among rebels

SUDAN: International mediators pushing for new negotiations on Darfur are being hampered by divisions among Darfur's rebels and by some rebels' hopes that genocide charges will bring down Sudan's president.

The ethnic African rebels, who rose up against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government six years ago, have never been united. But over the past year, factions have multiplied - up to 30 now by U.N. estimates, divided along tribal, political or personal lines.

Some faction leaders are not communicating with their commanders, and the U.N., African and Arab mediators have complained they sometimes don't know whom to talk to.

Now there are fears the conflict could spread beyond Darfur. Sudan's government has sent forces into neighboring South Kordofan province, claiming Darfur rebels are operating there, and the Justice and Equality Movement, the strongest Darfur rebel faction, has announced a military alliance with armed groups in Kordofan.

Meanwhile, the U.N. and African Union's point man on Darfur has spent the past two months meeting with rebel factions in Darfur and abroad. The Gulf state of Qatar is supposed to host a gathering of rebels and Khartoum officials, but Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali Sadiq said Friday that some rebel factions were refusing and no meeting date has been set.

Qatar "does not want to leave any loophole" by not having all rebels involved, Sadiq told The Associated Press.

Another meeting for Arab and African mediators scheduled in Qatar on Monday has been indefinitely postponed.

As the deadlock persists, humanitarian agencies are reporting a surge in banditry and attacks on supply convoys, believed to be carried out by breakaway rebel gunmen who live off the thefts. The rebel groups deny any role.

Peacekeepers' movements have been limited since November, following 10 attacks on vehicles in a single week in the main central Darfur town of Nyala. In the last week of December, three aid vehicles were hijacked across Darfur. In one attack, a Senegalese U.N. peacekeeper was killed.

Pressure on the rebels to join talks intensified after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in November offered a cease-fire and promised to address key rebel demands if they entered negotiations. Most rebels rejected a cease-fire, saying Khartoum must first disarm pro-government Arab militiamen, known as janjaweed, blamed for widespread atrocities. Up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes since 2003.

The rebels increasingly are vying among themselves for dominance. Late last month, Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, dismissed other groups as having been infiltrated by the government, or as "individuals with mobile phones who appear on satellite stations."

Nyala, Monday, AP