Sudan's Minni Arcua Minnawi discontented with DPA implementation, wraps up visit to the US
March 11th, 2008 (Washington NSV) - After a week long of lobbying in the United States for a push to revive the controversial Darfur Peace Agreement, SLM'ss Minni Arcua Minnawi returns to Sudan determined to soldier on with the beleaguered pact.
Minni Arcua Minnawi, leader of a faction of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), told The New Sudan Vision in a phone interview from Washington on Sunday night he had come to the United States of America to voice his disenchantment with the slow progress of the DPA to the International Community and the United States government.
"I am not satisfied [with Darfur peace] but I will push it," said Minnawi whose faction became the sole signer to the DPA with the Sudan government on May 5th 2006 in Abuja, Nigeria.
"We delivered our message to them. We don't know the response," he said, in a veiled reference to the US that some analysts said exerted mounting pressure on him to sign on to the deal.
Almost three years after the agreement, Minnawi finds himself cornered with his faction and Khartoum "struggling continuously" with the DPA, he said. He revealed key components of the DPA are unrealized and suggests both his group and Khartoum regime need more time for implementation.
Two other major groups, SLM-Abdel Wahid Nur and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), boycotted the agreement.
The SLM/SLA faction of Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur wants greater role for SLA in the implementation of the security arrangements and rejects the DPA's clauses on political representation and a victims' compensation fund.
The JEM faction says the protocols of power and wealth do not address the root causes that led to the rebellion in 2003.
Ever since the Abuja deal was authored, Darfur has splintered into several factions.
Minnawi said he signed the agreement with Khartoum because theirs was not meant to be a rebellion but was geared towards shaping the government's attitude in relation to Darfur. He believed he had reached that stage in 2006.
"Our purpose was not taking up the arms. Our purpose was to change the behaviour of the government," he said. "Whenever we recognize that, to sit down and negotiate, I think at the end of the day we would reach [common ground]. That was the point we reached."
Minnawi, like all his rivals, said he is fighting for a democratic Sudan where rule of law is upheld and human rights honoured.
He denies any rivalry with other factions, saying they are all fighting for the freedom of their people and that the tense situation [in Darfur] is the problem but hopes in the end they will all unite.
"We are not in the same faction but we don't have any disagreement. All of us are talking about the agreement about the freedom of the people of Sudan," the soft spoken rebel leader claimed. However, he agrees things have not been any better.
"Everything is going wrong so far" in Sudan, he said when he was asked why he had been compelled to challenge the government in 2003.
Despite the signing of peace in Darfur, the region continues to experience intense insecurity. The UN estimates at least 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in the violence.
Minnawi was scheduled to return to Sudan on Monday 10th, 2008 from the United States.
