Darfur Rebels commit to peace talks with Sudanese government

A rebel group in the Sudanese region of Darfur has signed a declaration affirming their commitment to the ongoing peace process with the Sudanese Government, the immediate cessation of hostilities and the resumption of negotiations in order to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the conflict on the basis of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD). Delegations from the Sudanese Government and the Justice and Equality Movement also agreed on a time frame to start talks after Friday, the Muslim religious holiday of Eid Al-Adha, the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said on Monday. The statement was issued in the Qatari capital of Doha, where the parties have been engaged in amidst intensive consultations over recent days, in the presence of Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud and the Acting UN-African Union Joint Chief Mediator for Darfur and head of UNAMID, Aïchatou S. Mindaoudou. Along with the UN-African Union mission, Qatar has been heavily involved in mediation efforts aimed at bringing an end to the conflict in Darfur, particularly with the DDPD, which forms the basis for a permanent ceasefire and comprehensive peace agreement to end the fighting that began in Darfur nine years ago, pitting Government forces and allied militiamen against rebel groups. "The Mediation calls upon the other non-signatory Movements to follow suit the Justice and Equality Movement and soon join the peace process with a view to alleviating the suffering of the population and restoring peace to all parts of Darfur," the UNAMID statement noted. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) is one of the rebel movements in Darfur. Another rebel group, the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), signed the DDPD in Doha last year. UNAMID , established in July 2007, has the protection of civilians as its core mandate, but is also tasked with contributing to security for humanitarian assistance, monitoring and verifying implementation of agreements and assisting with an inclusive political process, amongst other responsibilities. UNAMID said  last weeks attack on the group using modenr developed weapons, which haven't been used before, and could be aimed at preventing mission troops from entering Hashaba North Darfur to investigate incidents including the death of a South African solider and the injury of three soldiers being ambushed. Aisha Al Basri told tv interviewers that "the aggressive attack on the UNAMID mission was implemented by sixteen car carrying unknown militants using modern weapons including artillery, medium weapons, anti-tank missiles, tanks and Kalashnikov machine guns, as (UNAMID) was working hard to reach Hashaba."