PEACE NEGOTIATIONS WATCH
Monday, August 23, 2004
(Volume III, Number 33)

Fighting continues in Chechnya as election nears
Yuri Bagrov, Associated Press, 8/16/04

Rebels in Chechnya killed one Russian serviceman and wounded 11 others over the past day, while officials on Monday discussed preparations for a presidential election in the region less than two weeks away. Rebels fired at Russian outposts in the region 14 times in the past 24 hours, killing one serviceman and wounding five, an official with the Kremlin-backed administration for Chechnya said on condition of anonymity. In a separate rebel attack late Sunday near the Chechen capital, Grozny, five officers of the local police force were wounded, the official said. A Russian soldier was also wounded Monday while trying to defuse a rebel land mine in the village of Sernovodsk in western Chechnya, he added.

Federal aircraft and artillery pummeled suspected rebel hideouts in Chechnya's southern mountains, and Russian forces detained at least 140 people on suspicion of rebel links in security sweeps over the past 24 hours, the official said. Residents and international organizations say that such security raids are fraught with abuses against civilians. Some human rights groups have urged the Russian government to put off the Aug. 29 presidential election in Chechnya, saying that the continuing violence would mar the outcome. But the Kremlin has ignored such calls and pushed ahead with the vote to replace Moscow-backed Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, killed in a bombing in May.

President Vladimir Putin on Monday discussed preparations for the vote with Russia's Central Election Commission chief Alexander Veshnyakov, who reported that the campaign "strictly conforms to law." Veshnyakov also proposed to hold parliamentary elections in Chechnya no later than next spring, and Putin said he supported the idea, the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies reported. While many Chechens feared or disliked Kadyrov, a former separatist who switched sides and became the Kremlin's most powerful ally in the region, authorities have been conducting a campaign to turn him, posthumously, into a larger-than-life figure and an example to be followed.

On his birthday, Aug. 23, a boxing tournament and an exhibit of more than 200 photographs of Kadyrov will be held in Chechnya, the regional government said on its Web site Monday. According to the ITAR-Tass news agency, the government plans to award 10,000 rubles (about US$340) rubles to each boy born Aug. 23 and named after Kadyrov. Russian forces pulled out of Chechnya after a devastating 1994-96 war, leaving the region de facto independent. They swept back in September 1999 after rebels carried out raids in the mountains of the neighboring Dagestan region and were blamed for deadly apartment-building bombings in Moscow and other Russian cities.

In the same part of Dagestan on Monday, on Monday, seven servicemen from a unit based in Chechnya where wounded when an explosion hit their armored personnel carrier near the Chechen border, Dagestan Interior Ministry official Makhach Abdukhamidov said. The ITAR-Tass news agency said they were on a reconnaissance mission.

An opportunity in Chechnya; Ending rule by guns
Hrair Balian, The International Herald Tribune, 8/17/04

Last May, a massive bomb blast in Grozny killed Akhmad Kadyrov, the president of the Chechen Republic, after less than a year in office. On Aug. 29, when Chechens vote to replace Kadyrov, a window of opportunity may be opened for the start of a political process to end the 10-year-old war in Chechnya. Chechnya's population will be asked to vote in the midst of continuing war, terrible destruction and ghastly human rights violations. While the intensity of the war during the past year has been limited and some reconstruction has taken place, in any case the vote will take place in an environment less than conducive for a democratic vote.

The fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association necessary for a democratic vote are restricted, movement around the province is difficult, security is still precarious and last month's disqualification from the ballot of a credible presidential candidate, Malik Saidullayev, for bogus reasons, are but few of the problems candidates and voters face in Chechnya. Nonetheless, if these imperfect and highly controversial circumstances for the vote could lead to a political process to end the conflict, then the desperate hopes pinned to the vote by the people of Chechnya would be justified.

However, skeptics may have reason to doubt that the civilian and military authorities in Grozny and in Moscow are capable of signaling a fresh start in the province. Last year, on the occasion of a referendum for a new Chechen constitution, a similar opportunity to start a political process was lost. While the violence and destruction became more isolated during the year following the referendum, the murders, kidnappings and ill treatment of civilians continued. More importantly, there was precious little dialogue between Moscow and the leaders in Chechnya.

Of course, the vote alone could not put an end to the conflict, to the human rights violations and to the impunity of those committing such deeds. The cycle of violence can end only if and when the rule of guns in Chechnya is replaced with the rule of law. This would be possible if the vote later this month is followed with an earnest effort by the Russian authorities to start a genuine political dialogue aimed at bridging the abyss between Moscow and the people of Chechnya. If, for instance, there were an amnesty program reaching far beyond the very limited one offered last year, including most Chechen combatants and excluding only the most egregious violators against civilians, then perhaps the people of Chechnya could be convinced that a real political dialogue is indeed on offer. This in turn could serve to isolate the extremists among the Chechen fighters. To be credible, however, these measures would have to be coupled with an earnest effort to bring to justice some of the most serious perpetrators of crimes among the security forces.

Additional confidence building measures will be required as well. The constitution of the Chechen Republic, approved last year in a referendum, included some serious flaws. For example, it failed to give an equal status to the Chechen language. Could elevating Chechen to the same official level as the Russian language in the Republic be a powerful signal to the skeptics?

The constitution also provided a strong concentration of powers in the office of the president and created a relatively weak Parliament. Could a more balanced distribution of powers be more inclusive and thus acceptable to the hostile elements of the population in Chechnya? While these and other constitutional flaws are not on the ballot, they can be remedied through means short of constitutional amendments, including legislation and government decisions, and contribute significantly to an improved political environment.

Beyond the constitution, more effective control and training of the security forces in Chechnya to curb their excesses could also give a powerful signal. Another gesture could come from those in charge of the voting later this month by urgently reversing their decision to sack the presidential candidate, Saidullayev, and by reinstating him on the ballot. International organizations could also contribute to the credibility of the electoral process by sending election observers on Aug. 29.

Obviously these measures cannot and will not solve the accumulated and seemingly intractable problems in Chechnya, but they could go a long way to convince the majority of the population that a new start is indeed possible. The more difficult challenges could be addressed in time. The alternative is continuing the rule of guns in Chechnya.

Georgian president calls for international conference on status of South Ossetia
Misha Dzhindzhikashvili, Associated Press, 8/17/04

President Mikhail Saakashvili has appealed to world leaders to convene an international conference on the conflict in breakaway South Ossetia, where daily exchanges of gunfire threaten to spiral out of control and spark a war. Fighting broke out in the region late Tuesday for a fifth straight night since a cease-fire agreement. A South Ossetian official said Georgian forces were attacking an Ossetian village, Sarabuk, while Georgian authorities said Georgian forces were being bombarded from Sarabuk, the Interfax news agency reported. Tensions in South Ossetia, which broke away from the central government in 1992 following an 18-month war that killed hundreds, have escalated since the January election of Saakashvili, who has vowed to bring South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, under control.

Georgian authorities would not reveal the contents of Saakashvili's appeal, which they said was delivered to foreign embassies in Tbilisi. Georgian television networks had reported that Saakashvili said in the missive that Georgia has exhausted all options for a peaceful resolution of the situation. Saakashvili outlined his hopes for Western help in a commentary published Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal Online. "A good start would be an active role for the international community - specifically the United States, European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - in high-level negotiations among the parties directly involved," he wrote. Saakashvili, who has pledged to bring South Ossetia back into the fold after more than a decade of de facto independence, has courted the United States and other Western countries in an effort to counterbalance Russia, which wields considerable influence in the region.

While Russia says it recognizes Georgia's borders, most South Ossetians have been given Russian passports and many want the region to become part of Russia. Saakashvili said Georgia has "warm relations with our Russian partners that we hope to enhance," but he claimed arms deliveries from Russia have aggravated the situation and said Russia has balked at giving Georgia a share of control over a border tunnel he said is a source of foreign fighters, illegal arms and contraband in South Ossetia. In the commentary, Saakashvili also called for broadening the mandate of the OSCE observer mission in South Ossetia - which Russia has said should not be expanded - and for "an international peacekeeping operation that is balanced and takes into account Georgia's Euro-Atlantic partners."

Russia, which has the only foreign peacekeepers in South Ossetia, is likely to bristle at Saakashvili's suggestion that Western forces be deployed. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Tuesday dismissed Georgian officials' claims that groups in Russia were fueling the South Ossetian conflict as "nonsense." "We don't need a war near our borders," the Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying. Also Tuesday, representatives from a joint commission agreed on a three-point plan to demilitarize the region, remove armed mercenary groups and reopen the main road through South Ossetia's main city, Tskhinvali, Georgian and South Ossetian officials said.

But exchanges of fire have continued. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Guram Donadze said Tuesday that one Georgian peacekeeper was killed and two others were wounded when Georgian forces protecting ethnic Georgian villages in the region came under gun and mortar fire from the Ossetian side overnight. Alan Elbakiyev, a South Ossetian government spokesman, said Georgian artillery shelled the area around Ossetian villages overnight but inflicted no casualties.

Saakashvili is heading down the wrong path; Reunifying Georgia
Eugene Mazo, The International Herald Tribune, 8/19/04

During the last year, the world has been watching Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgia's dynamic young president, try to reunite his country and his people. In November he staged a bloodless coup, dubbed the "Rose Revolution," overthrowing his corrupt predecessor, Eduard Shevardnadze. In January he won a sweeping victory in the presidential election. In May, Saakashvili ousted Aslan Abashidze, the strongman in Adzharia, finally bringing that renegade republic under Tbilisi's control. These accomplishments have given Saakashvili a boost of confidence. Yet Georgia's future remains up for grabs.

Although Adzharia is now back in the fold, gaining control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgia's two other autonomous republics, will prove to be a much more difficult task for Saakashvili. Leaders in these republics are already putting up a tougher fight than did either Shevardnadze or Abashidze. As a result, last week Saakashvili ordered his navy to sink all foreign vessels headed for Abkhazia's main port at Sukhumi, on the basis that they were violating Georgia's waters. Meanwhile, Georgia's troops exchanged gunfire with rebels not far from Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia.

Saakashvili's intentions are clear. Yet by vigorously pursuing reunification with both republics at once, he is taking a gamble. If Saakashvili's plan to force these renegade lands into submission fails, Georgia's other minorities might also begin clamoring for autonomy, causing the country to unravel. Winning back Abkhazia and South Ossetia will not be easy. Unlike Adzharia, these republics share a border with Russia, making it easier for them to receive assistance and protection from their Russian masters. In fact, the two republics feel closer to Russia than they do to Georgia. In both, the currency of choice is the Russian ruble, not the Georgian lari; and their clocks have always been set to Moscow, rather than to Tbilisi, time. (To get around this, two months ago Saakashvili re-orientated Georgia's clocks so that they are now on Moscow time as well.)

Most crucial of all, perhaps, is the fact that both republics gained their de facto autonomy from Georgia by fighting a bloody civil war that ended in 1993. Thousands of troops were killed in the conflict, while 300,000 civilians were displaced from their homes. People in South Ossetia and, especially, Abkhazia, still harbor bitter memories of those days.

If Saakashvili is to unite his country, his negotiations will have to be delicately pursued -- not just with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but with Russia as well. Georgia's gargantuan neighbor seems to get aggravated whenever order is being restored in its own backyard. Russia still considers Georgia, a sovereign country, to be within its sphere of influence and has repeatedly tried to hinder Georgia's attempts at reunification. Igor Ivanov, Russia's foreign minister, insisted on acting as mediator in Saakashvili's negotiations with both Shevardnadze and Abashidze, making the language of their diplomacy Russian, not Georgian. Meanwhile, it is no secret that Russia provides arms to Georgia's two autonomous republics. Threatened by Saakashvili's ambitions, Russia even recently warned the young president not to violate the "sovereignty" of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Saakashvili's one bargaining chip may be the fact that his country shares its own strategic border -- with Chechnya. Georgia can allow Chechens passage to its territory, providing a safe place to hide from Russian bombs.

For reunification to happen, Abkhazia and South Ossetia will have to be guaranteed utmost autonomy within the new Georgia, without it actually crossing the line to sovereignty. And Saakashvili will have to give up some of his ambitions temporarily in order to please Russia. For example, he has openly and repeatedly said he wants to join NATO. This deeply offends the Russians -- and it sounds hypocritical to them when, in the same breath, Saakashvili insists that no foreign military power should have the right to station its bases, or its troops, on Georgian soil. Russia still maintains two bases in Georgia, and it is unlikely to remove them if it knows that NATO might put a base of its own in their place.

For now, the best solution for Saakashvili is to pursue the path of democracy. If the young president can ensure continued free and fair elections, curb corruption and improve his people's standard of living, Western institutions will invite his country to join them -- not the other way around -- and foreign aid will find its way to his doorstep. When that moment comes, Abkhazia and South Ossetia may still refuse to reunite with Georgia -- only this time, the loss will be theirs.

Indonesian military claims 1,150 rebels killed over 10 months in Aceh
Agence France Presse, 8/18/04

Indonesia's military on Wednesday said at least 1,159 separatist rebels have been killed in the past 10 months of its campaign to crush a rebellion in the province of Aceh. The figures in a report released on the eve of a visit to Aceh by President Megawati Sukarnoputri, suggest there has been little let up in a major military anti-rebel operation begun in May 2003, despite official assurances of peace. Their release also coincided with a visit to troops on the ground in Aceh by armed forces chief Endriartono Sutarto, who urged them to "finish off" the guerrillas.

According to the report, an additional 672 rebels have been arrested while 696 surrendered across the resource-rich province at the northern tip of Sumatra island. In the same period, 34 soldiers were killed and 175 injured. Two policemen were also killed and 15 injured, while 147 civilians lost their lives and 155 others were wounded, the report said, without apportioning blame for the civilian casualties. The release did not give a complete tally of casualties since martial law was imposed in Aceh at the start of the campaign, but military figures released in July showed a death toll of close to 2,200 since May 2003. In the latest violence, four rebels of the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, were killed and 12 people hurt on Tuesday during celebrations to mark Indonesia's independence anniversary, military spokesman Asep Sapari said.

The four rebels were shot dead in separate clashes across the region, while two policemen and six people were injured when attackers fired a grenade into a crowd gathered outside a police station, Sapari said. A gang of men on motorcycles threw three hand grenades into another crowd in East Aceh on the same evening, wounding four civilians, he said, blaming the attacks on rebels. Seven people were injured in a similar strike on Monday. A major security operation involving 2,000 personnel is being readied in Aceh ahead of Megawati's rare visit. In a speech to troops on the ground in the provice ahead of the president's trip, armed forces chief Sutarto praised the soldiers' efforts, but urged them to press on with their fight against the rebels.

"If you are facing armed GAM, then there is no choice for you except to finish them off, but while facing the people you must protect them as well as possible," he said. "As long as GAM is still there your duty is to continue to chase, chase, chase them until they are destroyed." Megawati's trip to the provincial capital Banda Aceh and the smaller town of Jantho will only last a few hours during which time she will meet soldiers and open a cultural festival. Aceh provincial governor Abdullah Puteh last week said the cultural festival, aimed at attracting potential investors from neighbouring countries will highlight the region's recovery from its years of bloodshed. "With this (festival) we want to show that Aceh is already peaceful and recovered," he said. Although martial law has now been repealed in Aceh, the province remains under "civil emergency" laws and access is heavily restricted, particularly for foreign journalists.

Moldova to impose further economic sanctions to breakaway Trans-Dniester
Corneliu Rusnac, Associated Press, 8/17/04

Moldova's government pledged Tuesday to tighten economic sanctions against breakaway province of Trans-Dniester, promising to reject goods that have come through the region in a move likely to increase tensions between authorities and the separatists. Moldova's Foreign Ministry announced the decision to ban trade, citing security concerns. It did not elaborate. However, the decision came just days after separatist officials decided to give rifles and pistols to checkpoint guards. Separatists said the move was necessary because Moldova had increased the number of police in the area.

Moldova has already effectively blocked exports from the region through a series of administrative moves. Under the new sanctions, which are to come into effect on Friday, Moldova will also refuse to accept goods from Russia and Ukraine that have traveled across Trans-Dniester. Russia and Ukraine use Trans-Dniester as a transit area to import goods to Moldova. Moldova also exports some goods through Trans-Dniester to Ukraine and Russia, and that would now cease. Moldova was part of Romania until it was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. It gained independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed.

Fears that Moldova would reunite with Romania led to a 1992 war between Moldovan government forces and separatists in Trans-Dniester. Some 1,500 people were killed in the fighting. Russia and Ukraine had previously called for both sides to solve the dispute peacefully.

Ukraine threatens to intervene in Moldova's standoff with separatists
Corneliu Rusnac, Associated Press, 8/18/04

In a growing crisis, Moldova on Wednesday criticized separatists in the breakaway province of Trans-Dniester for denying entry to representatives of an international security organization. Neighboring Ukraine, meanwhile, warned Moldova not to escalate tensions. Militiamen blocked two representatives from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe from entering Trans-Dniester on Tuesday, saying they would be allowed in only after the separatists and Moldovan authorities resolve a dispute over the closure of a Moldovan-language school in the enclave. Moldova's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that it "considers the Trans-Dniester militia's actions ... a defiant negligence of general human norms which are recognized by the international community."

Calling the militia's actions illegal and inhumane, the ministry asked the international community to intervene in the dispute. Tensions between Moldova and Trans-Dniester, which declared its independence from Moldova in 1990, but is not recognized internationally, have been worsening since Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking separatists closed several Moldovan-language schools in the region last month. Moldova's government blocked exports from Trans-Dniester, and authorities there retaliated by cutting off electricity to central and southern Moldova. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma warned Moldova put too much pressure on Trans-Dniester, in what appeared to be a veiled threat that may intervene on Trans-Dniester's behalf.

"Any economic blockade makes people suffer, and the Trans-Dniestrian population includes Ukrainians and Russians," he said, at a joint news conference in the Russian resort town of Sochi with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Our clear position needs to be heard by the Moldovan authorities, and certain conclusions need to be drawn." Backing Kuchma, Putin said he agreed fully with the Ukraine's position. Both were quoted by the Interfax news agency.

The two OSCE officials were informed late Tuesday them they not be allowed in until the dispute over the recent closure of a Moldovan-language school in the city of Tighina is resolved, said Jan Nadolski, an official with the OSCE mission to Trans-Dniester. Earlier Tuesday, other OSCE representatives were temporarily prevented from giving food and water to children in the school, 45 kilometers (30 miles) east of the Moldovan capital, Chisinau. It was home to 300 orphans and children from poor families. Moldova's government pledged Tuesday to tighten economic sanctions against Trans-Dniester.

Moldova was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 when it was part of Romania. It gained independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed. Fears that Moldova would reunite with Romania led to a 1992 war between Moldovan government forces and separatists in Trans-Dniester. Some 1,500 people were killed in the fighting.

Serbia restores state symbols from royal past, irking former communists and minorities
Misha Savic, Associated Press, 8/17/04

Parliament voted Tuesday to restore Serbia's 19th-century anthem and ancient coat of arms, harkening back to the republic's royal history as many seek to boost national pride amid economic and social hardships. The emblems represented Serbia before it merged in 1918 with its Balkan neighbors to form Yugoslavia. Lawmakers voted 183-0 to adopt the once-royal symbols, despite criticism that they were inappropriate for the republic sharing sovereignty with Montenegro. "These symbols are Serbia's true ones," Parliament Speaker Predrag Markovic said, insisting Serbia needed to replace its current coat of arms, which features the five-pointed communist Red Star.

The historic coat of arms dates back to the Middle Ages, and features a cross, a crown and a double-headed white eagle. The anthem - "Boze Pravde," or "God of Justice" - once contained lyrics that referred to the Serbian king. It has been slightly rephrased to avoid that reference, but for many it still symbolizes an oath to a monarch as well as to the country. Markovic noted that Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia and Poland are also democracies with state symbols featuring historical royal insignia. "The only peaceful and prosperous period for Serbia was when it was a monarchy and had this anthem and this coat of arms," historian Vladislav Pavlovic said. But while some welcomed the old symbols, highlighting past glories, others saw them as a prelude to the possible breakup of Serbia-Montenegro amid economic hardships.

"The parliament better do something about the economy," grumbled Jovan Bogicevic, who is 45 and unemployed, as he watched the televised session. "We have changed so many state symbols in the last 100 years, and none seem to have brought us luck." For the past century, Serbia has been plagued by half a dozen wars, including the Balkan bloodshed of the last decade following the 1991 breakup of Yugoslavia. While the ouster of former President Slobodan Milosevic four years ago ended the country's international isolation, economic hardships rooted in the ruinous wars persist. Market reforms launched by post-Milosevic governments have brought some improvement and hope, but unemployment still hovers around 30 percent, while average monthly salaries are about 18,000 dinars (US$300; €240).

The national symbol changes also irked Serbia's Socialists - Milosevic's renamed communists - who protested the loss of their Red Star and demanded state symbols be decided in a national referendum. Socialist lawmakers walked out of Tuesday's session shortly before the vote. Others said the new symbols may not be welcome in a multiethnic state where more than 30 percent of the 10 million population is non-Serb. "I am not a Serb," said Sandra Valentic, 34, an ethnic Croat born and raised in Serbia. "Am I supposed to feel warmth when I hear the anthem?" Despite international efforts to establish peace and cooperative governance, Serbia-Montenegro, named after its two constituent states, has largely been dysfunctional.

With separatist movements gaining support in both republics, a split seems likely despite EU insistence that the states would sooner achieve EU membership together. Last week, the country's joint parliament failed to agree on an anthem that would jointly represent both Serbia and Montenegro. Lawmakers in Montenegro adopted their own anthem and a new flag in July. Under the EU-brokered agreement that defined the union, both Serbia and Montenegro can hold independence referendums as early as 2006.

Kostunica not serious about extraditing Serb war crimes suspects, insider says
Misha Savic, Associated Press, 8/19/04

A senior official accused Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Thursday of reneging on promises to the United States that all Serb suspects would be extradited to the U.N. war crimes court. Nebojsa Covic - the government's chief liaison with the U.N. mission in Kosovo - lashed out at the prime minister on a number of issues and called him an "an insincere man who can't keep his word." "He can't even look you straight in the eyes," Covic said in an interview with the independent Belgrade-based B92 radio. Authorities here have come under growing pressure from U.S. and European leaders to send suspects to the tribunal to face charges related to the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Covic said Kostunica's failure thus far to make good on his pledge was hurting Serbia's relations with the West at a time when the Balkan republic remains dependent on outside aid for post-conflict reconstruction.

Covic claimed that Kostunica "told (U.S. President George W.) Bush, behind the scenes, that he would extradite all (war crimes) suspects. And then ... in Belgrade (Kostunica) denied that he ever made such a promise." He did not say when or where such a discussion had taken place. There was no immediate comment from Kostunica's office. Covic's remarks come amid a heated campaign for municipal elections in Serbia, a key popularity test for Serbia's numerous and often feuding political parties. The two politicians once had warm relations. Both were senior leaders of the push to oust former President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.

But their relationship has become strained alongside growing U.S. pressure on Serbia-Montenegro to deliver suspects to the U.N. tribunal based in The Hague, Netherlands. At least three high-profile suspects live openly in Serbia despite being indicted in connection with atrocities committed during the Balkan wars of the 1990s waged under Milosevic. Kostunica has refused to push for their extradition, apparently afraid of angering nationalists who are opposed to cooperation with the court.

Among those at large - and allegedly in Serbia - is Bosnian Serb wartime commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic. Also, four Serbian police and army generals have been indicted in connection with the 1998-1999 Kosovo war. Covic also accused Kostunica of mishandling issues pertaining to Kosovo, a southern province that has been under U.N. and NATO control since 1999 when the alliance launched air raids to stop Serbia's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. The failure to decisively deal with Kosovo is playing into the hands of the province's independence-minded ethnic Albanians, Covic said. "His (Kostunica's) policy, or lack of one, leads directly to losing Kosovo," Covic said. Serbs revere Kosovo as the original heartland of their state. It is still home to dozens of Serb medieval churches and monasteries.

Sudan vows to restore order to Darfur but calls for African peacekeepers
Ola Awoniyi, Agence France Presse, 8/17/04

Sudan will take the lead in restoring order to its rebellious Darfur region but needs the support of African peacekeepers and humanitarian aid, Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said Tuesday. Ismail told journalists in the Nigerian capital Abuja that Khartoum would double the number of its own police in the western region to 20,000, but also called on Nigeria and the African Union to help end the crisis. And for the first time, the senior Sudanese official confirmed the United Nations' estimate that one million people have become vulnerable to famine and violence since fighting erupted in Darfur last year.

"The war in Darfur, we never started it. It was imposed on us by the rebels who should be held responsible for all the negative impacts," he said, six days before Abuja is due to host a Darfur peace conference. "But at the same time, we believe that the government has a responsibility to restore law, order and security," he added. "Now we've about 40,000 troops -- army soldiers -- in Darfur plus about 10,000 police and we're going to increase the police up to maybe 20,000." Previously, Sudanese leaders have played down reports from UN agencies about the worsening situation in Darfur, which the international body has dubbed the "world's worst humanitarian crisis", but Ismail confirmed one UN figure.

"The total of those who are vulnerable and been affected by the war is about one million," he said, explaining that not all of those at risk had fled to refugee camps but that some were still living in exposed villages. Ismail asked Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, host of Monday's peace conference and chairman of the African Union, for trucks, planes, food and the immediate deployment of an initial batch of 150 Nigerian troops. The Nigerian troops are due to arrive in Sudan at the weekend in order to join 150 Rwandans and form the vanguard of what the African Union hopes will be a 2,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force. It is not yet clear, however, whether Sudan will accept the larger force, which the African Union and international observers believe will be neccessary to ensure the safe delivery of aid and disarmament of Darfur's militias.

The minister said that he had conveyed to Obasanjo the "commitment and readiness" of the Sudanese government to participate in Monday's talks, to which Darfur's rebel leaders have also been invited. "Our wish is that the talks will lead us to a final, fair and justifiable resolution of the problem," he said. Speaking earlier, Obasanjo said: "The meeting of August 23 is very important. My own belief is that whatever we do as the AU in Darfur must satisfy the yearnings of the people of Darfur and the government of Sudan.""Dealing seriously with the issue of disarmament will help the process. After disarmament and demobilisation, we must think of reintegrating the rebels and various militia back into civil society," he added.

"Then, we must find a politcal solution to a political problem," he said. The United Nations estimates that up to 50,000 people have been killed since Sudan's armed forces and the Janjaweed militia cracked down on minority tribes backing a rebellion, which erupted in Darfur in February 2003. UN member states have threatened to impose unspecified sanctions on Khartoum if it fails to disarm the Janjaweed, while the African Union has taken the lead in diplomatic moves to bring the parties to the negotiating table. Ismail is due to leave Nigeria for Chad later Tuesday, after meeting on Monday with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, officials said. Chad has a long border with Darfur and has received tens of thousands of refugees. "The aim of the visit is to acquaint them (African leaders) with what is going on in Darfur and to put them in the right picture about the situation there ... our plan to restore normalcy," Ismail said.

Number of displaced people rises in Darfur; WFP steps up aid for rainy season
Mohamed Osman, Associated Press, 8/18/04

Heavy rains and increasing numbers of displaced people from the Darfur conflict have the U.N.'s food relief agency gearing up for a "critical stage" in feeding victims of violence and instability in western Sudan, U.N. officials said Wednesday. Radhia Achouri, a spokesperson for the United Nations Mission in Sudan, told reporters that the number of internally displaced persons in the Darfur region has increased to 1.2 million, up from 1 million reported last month. Besides the internally displaced people, another 270,000 people are in need of humanitarian assistance, "bringing the total number of conflict-affected people in Darfur to a staggering 1.48 million people," Achouri said.

"The civilian population fleeing to IDP camps and concentration areas is increasing because of reigning insecurity and fear of militia attacks," she added. The United Nations says Darfur has become the scene of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The world body says about 30,000 people have been killed in fighting since African rebels rose against the government in February 2003. Since then, pro-government Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed, have been accused of a campaign to drive the African Sudanese out of Darfur. The United Nations says about 180,000 Darfur refugees have also fled into neighboring Chad. The U.N.'s World Food Program said it was urgently increasing its operations as the rainy season reached its peak in the Darfur region, according to a statement send to The Associated Press.

Starting Wednesday, the WFP planned to airlift nearly 100 tons of food daily into El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, the state worst affected by the rains. If the rains make the gravel and sand runway unusable, WFP will airdrop the food. "Delivering food by air is an expensive option but at this time of the year we have no other choice in parts of Darfur," said WFP Sudan country director Ramiro Lopes da Silva. "The next six weeks will be critical as the rainy season really begins to bite - we have a massive task ahead of us."

The WFP statement said other scheduled airdrops will continue to other locations, and the first 21 of 120 all-terrain trucks carrying trailers full of food supplies will leave Khartoum on Wednesday for the region. It said WFP has signed agreements with other international nongovernment organizations to improve food distribution elsewhere in Darfur. Meanwhile, the first shipment of aid sent by Italy, including high-protein food, tents and a generator, reached western Darfur earlier Wednesday, the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. A second flight was scheduled to leave next week, the statement said, adding that Italian aid group Intersos is helping provide the humanitarian relief.

Achouri said the United Nations remained concerned about the security situation but said government efforts to devise plans to address the problem were "positive." On July 30, the U.N. Security Council gave Sudan 30 days to quell ethnic violence in Darfur or face economic or diplomatic penalties. Sudan said it needed more time to end the crisis and rejected the threat of penalties, but the government agreed to comply with the resolution and has signed an agreement with the United Nations to establish "safe areas" in Darfur within 30 days where civilians will be free of attack.

African Union-sponsored peace talks are scheduled to be held in Nigeria on Aug. 23, bringing together Sudanese government officials and high-level delegations from the two rebel groups fighting government forces. Nigeria is expected to send 150 troops to Darfur later this week, after the arrival of 150 Rwandan soldiers last week, to protect 80 African Union observers monitoring a rarely adhered to April 8 cease-fire agreement. Army spokesmen in Nigeria have so far given no date for their arrival in Sudan. The African Union is considering beefing up its forces in Sudan to 1,800, beyond the 300 so far accepted by Sudan.

Sudan, U.N. sign deal ensuring displaced people from Darfur can return home voluntarily
Mohamed Osman, Associated Press, 8/21/04

The Sudanese government has signed an agreement with the U.N.'s migration agency ensuring that more than 1 million people displaced by the 18-month Darfur conflict will have the right to voluntarily return home, but only once they feel the situation is secure enough to do so. Signed Saturday in Khartoum, the agreement aims to ensure that no people displaced by the conflict, which has killed an estimated 30,000 people and destroyed scores of villages, will be forced by Sudanese security forces to return home before security has been restored or they are ready to go back. The agreement is one of several measures Sudanese authorities have committed to undertaking under the Darfur Plan of Action, a framework drawn up to demonstrate to the U.N. Security Council that Khartoum is moving to end the conflict, which the United Nations says has produced the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

"We have put together something that can work," said Brunson McKinley, director general of the U.N.'s Geneva-based International Organization for Migration, adding, however, that the return of the displaced people "is not going to be (an) easy or quick" process. McKinley told reporters he had visited several displaced people camps in Darfur, where most people told him that they wanted to return home providing that security was ensured. McKinley, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail and an envoy for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan signed the agreement, which calls for forming a group to manage and coordinate the voluntary return of displaced people to their Darfur homes. "Now we have a mechanism that would dispel any doubts as to whether the return of the IDPs (internally displaced people) is voluntary or not," Ismail stressed during the signing ceremony.

There have been allegations of Sudanese security forces trying to force displaced people living in camps dotted throughout Darfur's three states to return home, a U.N. official said, adding, however, that there have been no confirmed cases of this happening. Ismail made a call for international support, particularly from the United Nations and non-governmental organizations, to help enable the return home of those displaced by the conflict. Fighting in Darfur has been raging since African rebels rose up against the government in February 2003 over what they regarded as unjust treatment by Sudanese authorities. The region's nomadic Arab tribes have long been at odds with their African farming neighbors over dwindling resources, particularly water and usable land.

Since then, armed bands of herders, most of them pro-government Arabs, known as the Janjaweed, have been torching village after village in the sprawling, arid region. The United States and aid agencies accuse the government of backing the Janjaweed, claims Khartoum denies. But U.N. spokesperson Radhia Achouri said Friday that Sudanese authorities have acknowledged controlling some of the Janjaweed through promising to provide a list of militiamen suspected of involvement in the Darfur conflict. The United Nations Security Council has given the Sudanese government until Aug. 30 to disarm Arab militias blamed for the violence or face diplomatic and economic sanctions. Peace talks sponsored by the African Union are scheduled to be held in Nigeria on Monday between the two African rebel groups and the Sudanese government.

The United Nations says the conflict has driven about 1.4 million people from their homes, many of whom are now in displaced people camps, while another 180,000 have fled into neighboring Chad. Under Saturday's agreement, Sudanese authorities agreed to accept the International Organization for Migration's determination on whether people are ready to return home voluntarily and to ensure the security of the U.N. agency's staff and displaced people in Darfur. Paul Norton, the IOM's chief in Sudan, said it was crucial that displaced people in Darfur are not forced to return home before the security has been established and conditions, including suitable living arrangements, have been provided in their former homes. "We are talking about people who have been traumatized in one way or another, but ultimately the goal is to help these people go home and get on with their lives," Norton told The Associated Press in Egypt during a telephone interview.

Peace Negotiations Watch is prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group in cooperation with American University and is made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.