Hope for peace in Darfur with Doha agreement

The Darfur Peace Agreement, signed in the Qatari capital of Doha Thursday, has prompted many questions on its ability to achieve the long-awaited peace in the region, particularly that some major Darfur armed groups have rejected it. Viewpoints varied regarding the agreement which was a culmination of around 30 months of marathon negotiations between the Sudanese government and representatives of armed groups from the Darfur region which has been witnessing a civil war since 2003. In this respect, Mohamed Osman Hashim, a Darfuri leader and Finance Minister of West Darfur State, told Xinhua that "we consider the Darfur peace agreement as a great addition to the peace process in Darfur. What characterizes this agreement is that it has received a great consensus from the Darfur people." "This agreement has also received support from the international community, particularly the African Union and the United Nations," he added. Hashim further reiterated that the agreement has addressed all the essential issues of the Darfur people, saying that "the document has attached concern to the issue of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur together with the issue of rehabilitating the areas destroyed by the war during the past years." He went on saying that "the concern with these issues could greatly help in boosting the security and stability in Darfur, particularly that the states of the region have started to witness great rush of returning IDPs to their home areas." "The document tends to enhance the process of rehabilitating the villages and war-affected areas and boost the economic development in the region, particularly with the commitment of Qatar State and the international community to support the development in Darfur," he noted. He further urged the Darfur groups which are rejecting the Darfur peace agreement to join in to end the suffering of the Darfur people, saying that "this agreement has been supported by the international community and the people of the region, therefore the armed groups must take this historical opportunity." However, Al-Tayeb Ibrahim Iyssa, a Sudanese political analyst, believed that the Doha agreement was an extension of what he termed as "a series of incomplete agreements." "The aspirations expected to be achieved by the agreement are not much," he told Xinhua.