By Benedict Moran and Jason McLure
(Bloomberg) — Rebel fighters in Darfur said they’re planning a new attack on Sudan’s capital because the government isn’t committed to peace in the war-torn region.
The rebel faction known as the Justice and Equity Movement, led by Khalil Ibrahim, also welcomed the International Criminal Court’s announcement yesterday that it plans to indict Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir on war crimes charges. “It’s a great moment for the people of Darfur,” Tahir el Faki, the movement’s legislative commander, said in a phone interview from Darfur.
On May 10, JEM rebels entered the town of Omdurman, across the Nile river from Khartoum. Sudan’s official news agency said more than 200 people were killed in the assault, the Associated Press reported on May 13. At least 100 people were arrested after the attack, including Islamist opposition leader Hassan al- Turabi, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.
“We are going to pursue this criminal government militarily,” El Faki said today. “We are in Darfur right now. The commanders are here with Khalil Ibrahim discussing. We are coming back to Omdurman to finish the job.”
The war in Darfur, a region in western Sudan almost the size of France, has killed as many as 300,000 people and forced 2 million to flee their homes. The conflict began when rebels seeking a larger role in Sudan’s political life and bigger slice of the country’s expanding oil wealth attacked the government. The authorities in Khartoum responded by dispatching military forces and arming militias, commonly known as the Janjaweed, to attack areas accused of supporting the rebels.
UN Staff Relocated
Yesterday, the United Nations began relocating non-essential staff from Darfur to neighboring countries following an attack on a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force last week in which 7 soldiers died and 22 were injured.
The relocation “is due to the deteriorating security situation of the past month,” Josephine Guerrero, a spokeswoman for the force, known as Unamid, said in a telephone interview today from Khartoum. “All critical Unamid operations are ongoing and the forces are on the ground.”
The World Food Program has already relocated about 140 staff members from Darfur, said Emilia Casella, a spokeswoman for the UN agency.
“The vast majority of staff will remain to continue with the delivery of food to the people,” she said, adding that in June alone, WFP had delivered food aid to 3.3 million people, a figure she said will increase this month.
`Carry Out Mission’
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged “Sudan and the president to ensure that UN peacekeeping operations are able to carry out their mission.” Speaking in Berlin today at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ban added, “Peace and justice are both very important principles and they should go hand in hand.”
Al-Bashir’s indictment on any of the 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes would be the ICC’s first involving a sitting head of state. Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court in The Hague yesterday to issue a warrant for al- Bashir, 64, whose government vowed to oppose attempts to arrest him. It may take up to two months before the court decides on Moreno-Ocampo’s request, his spokeswoman, Florence Olara, said by phone today.
The African Union criticized the ICC’s announcement, saying an indictment won’t help resolve the crisis in Darfur.
The AU’s Peace and Security Council “expressed its strong conviction that the search for justice should be pursued in a way that does not impede or jeopardize efforts aimed at promoting lasting peace,” the Addis Ababa-based organization said in an e- mailed statement late yesterday.
`Fragile Peace’
AU Peace and Security Council Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra was due to arrive in Khartoum last night for consultations with al-Bashir and other Sudanese officials. Jean Ping, chairman of the AU commission, has held talks with the UN and the Arab League and called for an urgent meeting of African foreign ministers to discuss al-Bashir’s possible indictment.
An ICC indictment would pose “major risks for the fragile peace and security environment in Sudan, with a real chance of greatly increasing the suffering of very large numbers of its people,” the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based human rights group, said in an e-mailed statement.
Though the ICC was acting well within its mandate, its move could risk damaging the fragile peace agreement between north and south Sudan and hinder the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur, the group said.
Yasir Arman, a spokesman for Southern Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, said a negotiated settlement between Bashir and rebels in Darfur may prevent the ICC from issuing the indictment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Benedict Moran in Khartoum via Johannesburg at [email protected]; Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at [email protected].