During the November African Summit in Addis-Ababa, Khartoum paid lip service to a “revival of the peace process”. Al-Beshir himself promised to renegotiate certain passages when he refused deployment of UN troops.

Two attempts at mediation have been made. The government of Eritrea and Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi were in the forefront of such efforts during talks in Libya, but where neither Abdel Wahid el Nur, president of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) nor key rebel commanders were invited. Beshir came with many VIP's. The President of the Justice and Equality Movement and National Redemption Front (JEM/NRF), Khalil Ibrahim declared he was ready to accept a cease-fire if the Sudanese government stopped attacking civilians. But the only positive outcome was an ephemeral normalization of Sudan/Chad relations.

The second attempt, like that of Abuja, has come from the AU backed up by the UN. Their negotiators, accompanied by Eliasson and the ever present Salim Ahmed Salim, went to Khartoum to meet with important Darfuri Arab tribal representatives. Though in and of itself this was an excellent initiative, at present the results are unknown.

During the Tripoli Summit very little was done to build consensus for a unified rebel position. Gaddafi had thought it, but failed to invite key players. Sometime before, the SLM had tried to establish common cause, but the government ceaselessly bombed places where members were attempting to gather. Finally, it was Salva Kiir who “was asked by the rebels” to step in. He wants to unite representatives from all Darfuri factions in Juba this April. The SLM wishes to unite in a common front beforehand and continues to regret the absence of Zaghawa SLM human rights coordinator Soliman Jamous, who himself tried to broker a unified position. When Jamous was in a position of prominence, the Zaghawa did not enact reprisals. Gravely ill, he was seized by the government and hospitalized in Kaduki's U.N. medical facility in South Kordofan which was not equipped to treat him properly and government authorities refuse to grant him safe passage to leave.

Unifying the rebel demands would be a first step, but there will not be peace as long as all of the parties concerned, first and foremost the tribal leaders, civil society, and the Arab militias are excluded from the negotiation table. The lengthily and difficult North/South peace agreement taught us as much.

Violent Fighting Breaks Out between Police and Signatories of the Abuja Pace Deal in Omdurman, Khartoum's Twin City

Minni Minawi tries to impose his conditions

Minni Minawi, the only signatory of the bogus Abuja Peace Agreement, is in theory, the fourth most powerful man in Sudan. Supposed to act as a liaison between Darfur and the capital, he went there with some of his men after signing May 5, Agreement.

On March 24, the police surrounded then entered the house occupied by SLM/Minawi and killed four of its inhabitants. The police then set fire to a parked vehicle on the premises burning four soldiers alive. The SLM retaliated killing two policemen. A woman was slain bringing the death toll to twelve. Originally the police wanted to bring into custody and question two members of the SLM/Minawi implicated in a motor vehicle violation, but which the SLM refuted, invoking diplomatic immunity status in Khartoum. Afterwards from 42 to 48 SLM members were imprisoned and according to an eye-witness account sited by AFP, the neighborhood where the police stand-off occurred was transformed into a “battle zone” for several hours….. “The streets were totally deserted except for the police units and their armored vehicles”. The police patrolled the streets and returned light-arms fire coming from the SLM members barricaded within the building. Other police units crisscrossed Khartoum with loud speakers ordering people to stay away from Omdurman.

On April 1, Minni Minawi said the attack had been caused by “Police elements unhappy with the Abuja agreement.” But had they been able to provoke such a violent street battle without the green light from the State Security apparatus? During the ensuing funeral services, Minni Minawi proclaimed that if he was to continue cooperating with the authorities, Khartoum must allow the presence of UN troops in order to assist the delivery of humanitarian aid, that the those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity must be sent to the ICC and that the Janjaweed must be disarmed ( Sudan Tribune April 5, 2007).