Rebels Claim ‘Declaration of War’ as Sudan Abandons Darfur Peace Talks

Sudanese Delegation to Leave, Citing Lack of Progress

Following through on a threat by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to end the Qatari peace talks with the Darfur rebels if progress wasn’t made by today, the Sudanese government has withdrawn from the talks and plans for its delegation to leave the country on Friday.

Members of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the rebel faction involved in the talks, slammed the move as a “declaration of war” and said that it proved al-Bashir’s goal was to aim for a military solution in Darfur.

The talks were widely expected to fail in the wake of major clashes Monday, in which Sudanese troops moved into Northern Darfur. The clashes left at least 40 rebels dead and spawned arguments at the Doha talks over who was really to blame.

Reports from the site of the clash suggested that the JEM had fought alongside members of two other rebel factions from the region, suggesting that the groups are increasingly cooperatinhg with one another as more

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.