Peace Negotiations Watch
Monday, April 4, 2005
(Volume IV, Number 12)
Contents:
Springtime in Afghanistan brings surge in Taliban attacks
The Taliban failed to make an impact on Afghanistan's historic presidential election
Armenia and Azerbaijan leaders to meet over tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh
Long-simmering tensions have flared recently
OSCE chief hails Karabakh upcoming talks between Armenian, Azeri leaders
They will meet on the sidelines of a Council of Europe meeting
Burundi rebels, Tanzanian officials in talks to spur peace negotiations
The FNL agreed for the first time on February 1 to hold unconditional talks with the government
Tanzania downplays talks with Burundi rebels
The tiny central African nation is struggling to emerge from 11 years of civil conflict
UN may act against Rwandan rebels
How to disarm them has been one of the big issues facing the international community
Rwandan rebels 'ready to end armed struggle'
The group made the announcement after talks in Rome
Democratic Republic of Congo Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the DR Congo Negotiation Simulation.
Upcoming peace talks on ending Aceh conflict crucial, Indonesian minister says
Most Acehnese oppose Indonesian rule
Aceh Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Aceh Negotiation Simulation.
France seeks Ivory Coast peacekeeping extension, South Africa hopeful about upcoming talks
The council was reviewing a report from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Ivory Coast peace talks open in South Africa, make progress
The coastal nationhas since been split between the rebel-held north and the government-controlled south
Rebels warn Kashmiris against riding the first cross-border bus to Pakistan-controlled Kashmir
More than a dozen rebel groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan
Kashmir Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Kashmir Negotiation Simulation
Kosovo's U.N. chief presses Belgrade for direct talks with Kosovo Albanian leaders
Talks on Kosovo's final status may start as early as September
Kosovo Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Kosovo Negotiation Simulation.
Poland's foreign minister meets Moldova's separatist leaders
Poland currently holds the Council of Europe rotating presidency
Former prime minister, hundreds of activists freed in Nepal
Nepal has come under increasing pressure from the world community
Nepal Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Nepal Negotiation Simulation prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.
Philippines asks Washington not to blacklist terror-linked Muslim rebel group due to peace talks
There has been speculation that Washington has been considering whether to add the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to its list of terrorist organizations
UN urges Serbs to enter talks on Kosovo's future
Kosovo's Albanian majority wants independence from Serbia-Montenegro
Sri Lanka Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Sri Lanka Negotiation Simulation
Eastern Sudan rebels want Port Sudan justice before peace talks
In the aftermath of the violence, Khartoum pledged in to hold talks with the rebels
Peace Negotiations Watch is prepared by the Public International Law and Policy Group in cooperation with American University and is made possible by grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ploughshares Fund.
Springtime in Afghanistan brings surge in Taliban attacks
Emmanuel Duparcq, Agence France Presse, 4/1/2005
After an unusually bitter winter in Afghanistan, the Taliban have emerged from hibernation with a vengeance and begun a spring campaign of violence, with just months to go before key parliamentary elections. Bombs have caused carnage in Kandahar, Kabul and Jalalabad and attacks have killed four Afghan policemen and injured US and local soldiers during a fortnight of bloodshed.
It all happened exactly as the ousted Islamic fundamentalist movement had warned -- and as the 18,000-strong coalition forces hunting the militants through Afghanistan's rugged terrain had expected. "With spring coming, we're expecting more actions such as ambushes and IEDs (improvised explosive devices)," Lieutenant General David Barno, the commander of US forces in the country told AFP this week.
A Western security source added: "We were waiting for this. It comes every year at the same time." Afghan authorities said they too were prepared for the upsurge in violence, which has included a vicious three-day stretch of attacks that also left at least four Taliban militants dead. "There might be more attacks, but remote ones, because security is very good in the country now," Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal told AFP.
But the apparently dislocated Taliban cells carrying out the attacks could still coalesce ahead of September 18's long-delayed parliamentary polls, analysts and officials said. Barno himself said that the Al-Qaeda terror network was trying to mastermind a comeback by the Taliban, which supported Osama bin Laden both before and after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
"There's always cooperation, it's no coincidence that all operations take place at the same time," said Nick Downie of the Afghanistan Nongovernmental Security Office. "Cooperation exists, above all in the east and south-east, where propaganda spreads when the weather improves. "The Taliban have time on their side. They don't have technology, but they have the knowledge of the country."
"They have one basic principle: avoid targeting the Afghan people, except the police and the army, who they consider collaborators," the western security source said. This was shown when the Taliban were blamed by police for a March 17 bombing in southern Kandahar, the militia's birthplace, which killed five people and injured 32 while US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was visiting the country.
The militants tend to claim responsibility for almost every attack on Afghan or US forces, even when it results from an old landmine and is not caused by them. But with civilians involved in the Kandahar attack they issued an unusually quick denial. According to analysts, the Taliban will concentrate on the symbols of reconstruction: foreign soldiers, local forces, aid agencies, the United Nations and other western groups.
Four aid workers have been killed since the start of the year in Afghanistan, Downie's group said. In 2004 the figure was 24, and 13 in 2003. "Security is usually good for foreigners, but very little in general for most of the country," Downie added. All eyes will be on the September vote to see if it will be targeted despite heavy security provided by local and foreign troops.
The Taliban failed to make an impact on Afghanistan's historic presidential election in October 2004, despite repeated threats. It was won by US-backed incumbent Hamid Karzai. "There will definitely be attacks, because the vote will be very decentralised, and without doubt political assassinations," the western security source added.
However experts say the Taliban are not the only killers in the scarred country, where a massive drug trade powers the economy and where regional warlords constantly squabble. "The violence will continue. But it's not only from insurgents but also from power people liked with crime, who have impunity, above all if the government needs them at local level," Downie said.
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Armenia/Azerbaijan
Armenia and Azerbaijan leaders to meet over tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh
Agence France Presse, 3/30/2005
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will discuss the rising tensions in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh at a meeting in Warsaw on May 16, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said Wednesday. Armenian President Robert Kotcharian and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliev will meet on the sidelines of a Council of Europe meeting.
Long-simmering tensions over the disputed enclave of Karabakh in the volatile Caucasus have flared recently, sparking fears that the escalation of hostilities along a ceasefire line between Armenian and Azeri forces could lead to a new war. Armenia has controlled Karabakh and seven surrounding regions which make up 14 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory since the two former Soviet republics ended large-scale hostilities with a ceasefire in 1994.
OSCE chief hails Karabakh upcoming talks between Armenian, Azeri leaders
Agence France Presse, 3/30/2005
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Wednesday hailed upcoming talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan over rising tensions in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. "The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia must use this window of opportunity to solve the conflict," said OSCE chairman Dimitrij Rupel during a visit to the Armenian capital Yerevan.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev will discuss Nagorno-Karabakh in Warsaw on May 16, officials said here earlier Wednesday. They will meet on the sidelines of a Council of Europe meeting. Long-simmering tensions over the disputed enclave in the volatile Caucasus have flared recently, sparking fears that the escalation of hostilities along a ceasefire line between Armenian and Azeri forces could lead to a new war.
"It is essential to put an end to ceasefire violations, and there must be a solution as soon as possible," Rupel told reporters said after talks with Kocharian. Armenia has controlled Karabakh and seven surrounding regions which make up 14 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory since the two former Soviet republics ended large-scale hostilities with a ceasefire in 1994.
But an escalation of ceasefire breaches and a mounting death toll reported in recent weeks by the Azeri media have given observers pause and caused concern in Washington, as efforts to resolve the dispute diplomatically have disintegrated. In the past month alone there have been reports of numerous exchanges of fire between Azeri and Armenian forces resulting in the deaths of at least four Azeris and the capture of another three. During 2004, six Azeri soldiers were killed.
Burundi rebels, Tanzanian officials in talks to spur peace negotiations
Agence France Presse, 3/28/2005
Senior Tanzanian officials and leaders from neighboring Burundi's lone remaining rebel group opened talks in Dar es Salaam on Monday aimed at starting formal peace negotiations with Bujumbura, informed sources here said. Burundi's Foreign Minister Therence Sinunguruza confirmed that discussions with the the rebel National Liberation Forces (FNL) were under way but stressed that they did not yet involve any officials from Burundi's government.
"There are discussions between the Tanzanian government and the FNL at the moment in Dar es Salaam but the Burundi government is not involved," he said. A diplomat in Bujumbura said the opening of the talks, which on Monday included Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, was a positive development that could likely pave the way for formal peace negotiations and a final end to Burundi's long-running civil war.
"The talks have reached a new level and they are seen as preparation for negotiations between the Burundi government and the FNL rebels," said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity. The FNL, the only one of Burundi's seven rebel groups not to have signed a peace deal with the government, has stepped up attacks in and around the capital in recent weeks in what analysts believe may be an attempt to strengthen their bargaining position.
The FNL agreed for the first time on February 1 to hold unconditional talks with the government, and a presidential spokesman told AFP on March 4 that the two sides would meet in Tanzania "in about 10 days." But the spokesman for the government denied it, although Tanzanian diplomats and United Nations sources said plans for talks were well advanced.
The tiny central African nation is struggling to emerge from 11 years of civil conflict that has claimed the lives of some 300,000 people. Tanzania, which is home to some 350,000 Burundian refugees, has played a key role in the peace process and its late president, Julius Nyerere was the first foreign mediator in the conflict.
Tanzania downplays talks with Burundi rebels
Agence France Presse, 3/29/2005
Tanzania on Tuesday played down the significance of contacts with neighboring Burundi's lone remaining rebel group, saying the talks are not intended to jumpstart formal peace negotiations between the insurgents and Bujumbura. It said discussions Tanzanian officials are having with leaders from Burundi's National Liberation Forces (FNL) are aimed solely at hearing the rebels' take on the peace process and were agreed to only reluctantly.
"We have accepted their request to come and see us and tell us their position on the Burundi peace process," Tanzanian Deputy Foreign Minister Abdulkadeer Shareef told AFP. "There will be no discussions or re-opening of talks on the peace deal," he said, adding that since the beginning of this year FNL leader Agathon Rwasa had made several requests to meet Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa.
"We were not enthusiastic about their requests because they had earlier expressed similar interest, only to find out that they were not sincere," Shareef said. He refuted reports from Bujumbura that the discussions had begun on Monday but said they would begin in early April and would involve Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete on the Tanzanian side.
"The exact date and venue is to be determined later," Shareef said, stressing that Tanzania was only talking to the FNL, which has been declared a terrorist organization by Burundi, as part of a regional peace initiative. On Monday informed sources in Bujumbura said the talks, which involved Mkapa, had begun on Monday and would likely pave the way for formal peace negotiations and a final end to Burundi's long-running civil war.
The tiny central African nation is struggling to emerge from 11 years of civil conflict that has claimed the lives of some 300,000 people. The FNL is the only one of Burundi's seven rebel groups not to have signed a peace deal with the government and has stepped up attacks in and around Bujumbura in recent weeks in what analysts believe may be an attempt to strengthen their bargaining position.
It agreed for the first time on February 1 to hold unconditional talks with the government, and a spokesman for Burundi's President Domitien Ndayizeye told AFP on March 4 that the two sides would meet in Tanzania "in about 10 days." But the spokesman for the government immediately denied that talks were in the works, although Tanzanian diplomats and United Nations sources said plans for such discussions were well advanced.
Tanzania, which is home to some 350,000 Burundian refugees, has played a key role in the peace process and its late president, Julius Nyerere, was the first foreign mediator in the conflict.
UN may act against Rwandan rebels
Andrew England, Financial Times, 3/30/05
The United Nations is considering using force against an estimated 10,000 Rwandan rebel fighters based in eastern Congo as part of a more robust stance by UN forces in the volatile region. Ross Mountain, deputy head of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said that UN peacekeepers could disarm and arrest the insurgents if they continued to threaten civilians. "If they are threatening civilians, we will take action," he said.
The UN mission, known as Monuc, has been criticised for failing to safeguard civilians who have been terrorised by Rwandan rebels and by an estimated 15,000 Congolese militia fighters - remnants of a bloody proxy war between Kinshasa and Kigali, which should have ended with the Congolese civil war in 2003. The Rwandans, extremists from Rwanda's Hutu community, fled to Congo after carrying out the 1994 genocide in which more than 500,000 people were slaughtered.
How to disarm them has been one of the big issues facing the international community and Congo's transitional authorities. Twice in the last decade Rwanda has invaded its western neighbour, accusing Congolese governments of failing to disarm the rebels who used Congo as a base to strike Rwanda. Each time civil war broke out in Congo, and Kigali has warned it will send troops back into Congo if the insurgents are not dealt with.
The Rwandan rebels fought alongside Congolese government forces during the civil war, which sucked in half-a-dozen countries. Rwandan government troops, meanwhile, backed Congolese rebels against the government. The UN has argued it was not its mandate to disarm the Rwandans and that it could only assist a voluntary disarmament programme. Now Monuc is interpreting its UN mandate to protect civilians in a more "active" fashion, Mr Mountain said.
"The mandate says we are able to respond directly to civilians under threat and I'm not sure that we have understood it in as quite an active way in the past as we understand it now," he said. "We don't have to invent excuses - civilians are being attacked, particularly in the east, by the militias."
Rwandan rebels 'ready to end armed struggle'
Andrew England, Financial Times, 4/1/2005
A Rwandan rebel group based in eastern Congo has declared it will end its armed struggle against the Rwandan government and is willing to disarm. The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), made up of ethnic Hutus, also condemned the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which they are accused of taking part in. More than 500,000 people, mainly minority Tutsis, were killed.
The group made the announcement after talks in Rome at the Sant'Egidio religious community, a Catholic group that mediates in conflicts. "The FDLR is committed to end the armed struggle. The FDLR has decided from henceforth to transform their armed struggle into a political one," the group said in a statement. It added that "following further developments and assurances" it would accept the disarmament and return of its estimated 10,000 forces to Rwanda.
The insurgents fled to eastern Congo after the genocide, and their presence there has been a destabilising factor in Africa's Great Lakes region. Officials close to Congo's President Joseph Kabila were involved in the talks. Rwanda has invaded its western neighbour twice in the last decade, accusing Congolese governments of failing to disarm the insurgents who used Congo as a base to strike Rwanda. Each time, civil war broke out in Congo, and Kigali has warned it will send troops back into Congo if the insurgents are not dealt with.
Experts say the FDLR no longer represents a military threat to Rwanda, but its presence has been used by Kigali as a pretext to meddle in Congolese affairs. Richard Sezibera, Rwanda's Great Lakes envoy, said Kigali was ready to receive those who wished to return but he expressed caution. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating. If they do disarm and return we will take them seriously," he said.
Ross Mountain, deputy head of the United Nations mission in Congo (Monuc), said the move could "transform" the security situation in Congo's Kivu provinces, where the rebels roam. "We are taking this very seriously," he told the Financial Times. "We would not exclude that there may be some elements that may not join it, but that does not mean the initiative is not an extraordinary advance if it galvanises the disarmament and return of the bulk of those still in the Kivus."
Democratic Republic of Congo Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the DR Congo Negotiation Simulation prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.
Upcoming peace talks on ending Aceh conflict crucial, Indonesian minister says
Slobodan Lekic, Associated Press, 3/28/2005
A top Indonesian negotiator said Monday that the next round of peace talks between the government and separatist rebels in tsunami-hit Aceh province would be crucial in efforts to rebuild the region. "If we can achieve a new substance on how to find a peaceful solution ... that would be a great help in our effort to rebuild Aceh," said Indonesian Communications and Information Minister Sofyan Djalil.
"We hope that kind of objective can be achieved on April 12," when the next round of peace talks start, he said. Officials and mediators say that during the previous two rounds of talks in January and February in the Finnish capital of Helsinki, Indonesia's government and rebels of the Free Aceh Movement made significant headway in ending the fighting in the oil- and gas-rich province.
Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who is mediating the talks, said in February that the rebels had withdrawn their previous demand for outright independence. The rebels, who maintain a government-in-exile in Sweden, have indicated they may consider a deal if free elections are held for a regional government.
Most Acehnese oppose Indonesian rule, and any free vote is likely to result in a landslide victory for the separatists. An Indonesian official said on condition of anonymity that Jakarta would not allow any separatist parties to take part in local elections, a stand likely to be unacceptable to the insurgents. Still, Jakarta is willing to compromise on a rebel demand that the military, which is widely detested in Aceh because of its history of human rights abuses, be withdrawn from the region, the official said. He added that one or two battalions of rebel troops could be inducted into the Indonesian army to serve in the region.
An earlier peace process collapsed in 2003, when Indonesian generals opposed to a cease-fire arrested rebel negotiators, kicked out international observers and launched an offensive that has killed about 3,000 people. The Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami in which at least 127,000 people in Aceh perished helped restart negotiations, partly because of the international scrutiny the disaster brought to the conflict, known as "Indonesia's forgotten war."
Thousands of soldiers, aid workers and journalists from around the world poured into the province of 4.1 million people, a war zone formerly closed to foreigners. The Acehnese war, one of the world's longest-running conflicts, has its roots in the occupation of the independent Aceh sultanate by Dutch colonialists in 1870.
Aceh Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Aceh Negotiation Simulation prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.
France seeks Ivory Coast peacekeeping extension, South Africa hopeful about upcoming talks
Nick Wadhams, Associated Press, 3/28/2005
France on Monday proposed renewing the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast for a month to give more time for South African mediation efforts between the government and rebels whose three-year conflict has crippled the one-time West African economic powerhouse. The proposal came at a U.N. Security Council meeting in which members lamented the lack of progress toward peace in Ivory Coast despite a May 2003 cease-fire agreement that was meant to end the fighting. Tensions have mounted recently, with reports of a buildup of armed men and munitions along a buffer zone which is patrolled by the U.N. and French troops.
The council was reviewing a report from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan who said events in Ivory Coast may "spin out of control with incalculable consequences" unless armed militias are reined in and elections set for October go ahead. There was general support for Annan's recommendation to add some 1,200 peacekeepers to the 6,000 currently in place. South African President Thabo Mbeki's mediation efforts also got widespread backing.
On Friday, Mbeki invited Ivory Coast's opposing factions for negotiations April 3 to get the peace plan back on track. That's a day before the expiration of the U.N. peacekeeping mandate. Mbeki has been trying to mediate on behalf of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States. He repeatedly has insisted that preparations to disarm the warring factions and prepare for October presidential elections are on schedule.
The deputy U.N. envoy for Ivory Coast, Alan Doss, told the council there were signs that the rebels in Ivory Coast's north were preparing for a long-term conflict. They had parceled out five new areas to warlords and announced new training facilities and a bank, he said. Despite that, South Africa's deputy foreign affairs minister, Aziz Pahad, said South Africa was hopeful about the upcoming meeting.
"We hope that the leaders will rise to the occasion and really among themselves conclude that Africa needs them to move forward and find a solution," Pahad said. "Generally we do not have overall a pessimistic opinion." France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said the mission should be extended to give time for South Africa's efforts. He stressed the importance of the October elections.
"If the elections don't go ahead as scheduled in October, Ivory Coast will enter into the unknown with all the danger that entails," de la Sabliere said. Ivory Coast's U.N. Ambassador Philippe Djangone-Bi said the elections would go ahead and said he backed Mbeki's plan toward peace. "We agree 100 percent with this process, with the methodology and we are ready to move forward," he said. "We are optimistic."
Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, has been split into a rebel-held north and loyalist south since a September 2002 coup attempt propelled the country into civil war. Frustrated by nearly two years of intransigence, the Security Council imposed an arms embargo in November and is weighing punitive sanctions unless the government revives peace efforts with the rebels.
Ivory Coast peace talks open in South Africa, make progress
Agence France Presse, 4/3/2005
South African President Thabo Mbeki began key talks to bring peace to Ivory Coast Sunday and a source close to the discussions said there was "progress" and a real hope that they would produce concrete proposals to end the lingering civil conflict. The talks began on an optimistic note and carried on late at night with all the key players temporarily setting aside a hotly contested clause that forbids anyone who is not 100 percent Ivorian from contesting the presidency, an Ivorian source said on condition of anonymity.
The source said the discussions had moved to legislative reforms and added that the conditions of eligibility to contest the presidency would be taken up later, on Monday. Another source told AFP: "There was progress today. We are satisfied. There is a lot of hope. We will leave Pretoria with a concrete proposal for peace."
Earlier Mbeki, mandated by the African Union to negotiate an end a civil conflict that has split Ivory Coast since September 2002, opened the talks by stressing that the warring parties were all committed to finding a solution. "I can assure everybody that the entirety of the leadership of Ivory Coast is very very keen that indeed we find a solution to the problems and that there will be a focus on the practical results that we should get," said Mbeki.
"We are meeting to look at the progress that has been made with regard to the resolution of the Ivorian crisis and to see what next should be done in order to find solutions that everybody here wants," Mbeki said. The crucial talks in Pretoria came the day before the mandate of 10,000 French and UN peacekeepers was due to expire in the west African nation, the world's top cocoa producer and former jewel in the French colonial crown, whose economy now lies in tatters.
The leaders attending the meeting included President Laurent Gbagbo, main opposition leader Alassane Ouattara; former president Henri Konan Bedie who was toppled in Ivory Coast's first coup; Seydou Diarra, consensus prime minister of a government of national reconciliation, and rebel leader Guillaume Soro. Mbeki used a joke to underscore the seriousness of the talks, pointing to South African Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota who was seated at the same table as himself and the Ivorian leaders for lunch.
"He has told me that it's only when I say we have successfully concluded the talks that it will be possible for the aircraft to take off from South Africa," carrying the Ivorian leaders out of the country," Mbeki said. Ivory Coast's rebellion broke out in September 2002 in the Muslim-dominated north against the government of Gbagbo, a Christian from the south, whom the rebels accused of marginalising and ignoring their region and people.
The coastal nation, once a haven of peace and prosperity in troubled west Africa, has since been split between the rebel-held north and the government-controlled south. On Friday, Gbagbo, through his spokesmen, said the main stumbling block for the government was the rebels' refusal to disarm in line with the Marcoussis peace accords signed in France in January 2003.
The rebels want the pro-government militias to disarm but Abidjan claims that they are simply "patriots" who are not armed. Another thorny point is the contentious Article 35 of the Ivorian constitution which prevents main opposition leader Ouattara from contesting elections due in October this year. It stipulates that anyone who does not have two Ivorian parents cannot contest the top job and was used to bar him from standing in the last presidential election won by Gbagbo in 2000.
The article draws on the controversial notion of Ivorianness, which was used to sideline Ouattara, then prime minister, from power after the death of Ivory Coast's founding president Felix Houphouet-Boigny.
Rebels warn Kashmiris against riding the first cross-border bus to Pakistan-controlled Kashmir
Mujtaba Ali Ahmad, Associated Press, 3/30/2005
Four rebel groups on Wednesday warned people against riding the cross-border buses that will soon reconnect thousands of families separated by the division of Kashmir. The threat against traveling on the buses, which will connect Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, the capitals of Indian and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, was sent via fax to The Associated Press office in Srinagar.
"The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service is against the interests of the freedom struggle and is an Indian ploy to harm Kashmir's freedom movement," said the statement, signed by the commanders of the rebel groups. "This is friendly advice to passengers that they should not board this coffin to Muzaffarabad." The rebel signatories to the statement are: Al-Nasireen (The Helpers), Save Kashmir Movement, Al-Arifeen (The Pious) and Farzandan-e-Millat (Sons of the Community). The first two groups are major militant movements, but the others are little-known.
There was no way to independently confirm that the fax was sent by the groups. In a Srinagar neighborhood, a family scheduled to travel on the inaugural bus on April 7 expressed shock over the threat, but said they would still go. "It is after a decade of trying hard, and a number of failures, that we have been able to get a permit to go to Muzaffarabad. Now this is unfortunate," said Ghulam Fatima Bhat, 55, who is scheduled to visit her daughter.
"Life and death are in the hands of Allah. If I die, I will at least have the satisfaction that I tried everything possible to see my daughter again. The threat doesn't scare me," she said, sobbing. The groups also called for a general strike on April 7, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to flag off the inaugural trip of the twice-monthly bus service.
The statement, in the Urdu language, also carried a list of 40 prospective passengers who are being vetted by authorities to ride the first bus. It directed newspaper editors to "publish the list so that these people stand warned and are not among the traitors." Meanwhile, three people were killed Wednesday when two suspected Islamic rebels tried to storm a paramilitary post in Arampora village, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Srinagar, said Border Security Force spokesman Neeraj Sharma.
More than a dozen rebel groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. At least 66,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the 15-year conflict in Kashmir.
Kashmir Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Kashmir Negotiation Simulation prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.
Kosovo's U.N. chief presses Belgrade for direct talks with Kosovo Albanian leaders
Katarina Kratovac, Associated Press, 3/28/2005
The U.N. chief for Kosovo pressed Serbia's leaders Monday to take up direct dialogue with Kosovo's ethnic Albanians and said he was encouraged by positive signals from Belgrade ahead of talks later this year on Kosovo's future. "We are moving into some very important months for the future of Kosovo, for the future of the region," Soren Jessen-Petersen said at the end of a two-day official visit here.
Jessen-Petersen said he "detected a clear readiness" by Serbian President Boris Tadic for talks with Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica did not explicitly reject such talks, he said. Six years after the end of the 1998-99 conflict that claimed about 10,000 lives, mostly of ethnic Albanians, Kosovo remains formally part of Serbia-Montenegro, or what used to be Yugoslavia, but is run by the United Nations and NATO.
The war ended after NATO's 78-day bombing campaign pushed Serb troops out, forcing former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to relinquish control of the separatist province. Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians seek full independence from Serbia while Belgrade insists Kosovo should remain within Serbia-Montenegro but enjoy broad autonomy.
Talks on Kosovo's final status may start as early as September, according to Jessen-Petersen, providing the province meets a set of U.N. standards on human rights, minority rights and security by June or July. "Just four months ago I did not feel Belgrade was focused that the status talks would happen this year," he added. "The very focus on that I consider a welcome development."
Serb and ethnic Albanian officials recently renewed official contacts by holding discussions on the fate of hundreds of people still missing from the 1998-99 war. Similarly, the two sides would soon discuss return of Serb refugees and energy supply issues in Kosovo, Jessen-Petersen announced. "Direct dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is a good basis to build up confidence and trust," Jessen-Petersen said.
But violence and tensions persist in Kosovo, with attacks often targeting the dwindling Serb minority and threatening to deepen the ethnic divide. An elderly Serb couple were badly beaten and stabbed early Monday outside their home in the village of Crkolez in northwestern Kosovo.
Kosovo Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Kosovo Negotiation Simulation prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.
Poland's foreign minister meets Moldova's separatist leaders
Associated Press, 3/31/2005
Poland's foreign minister held talks Thursday with leaders of Moldova's breakaway Trans-Dniester region in an effort to promote dialogue with the Moldovan government, his spokesman said. Adam Rotfeld took one hour during a visit to Moldova to meet Sergey Leontev, deputy president of Trans-Dniester, and several aides, spokesman Aleksander Checko told The Associated Press from Chisinau.
"There were no concrete talks, but the point is to open the process of talks that has been lacking so far," the Polish news agency PAP quoted Rotfeld as saying after the talks. "Both sides need to be heard." Leontev called for a dialogue that will "satisfy both sides," PAP reported. Trans-Dniester, which borders Ukraine, broke away from Moldova in 1992 after a short war. It receives strong support from Russia, which has more than 1,800 troops stationed in Trans-Dniester.
Rotfeld traveled for his talks to Tiraspol, the main city of the breakaway province, as a representative of the Council of Europe, which promotes democratic values. Poland currently holds the group's rotating presidency.
Former prime minister, hundreds of activists freed in Nepal
Agence France Presse, 4/1/2005
Former Nepal prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala and around 200 other activists detained since King Gyanendra seized power two months ago have been released, police said Friday. "I'm happy, I feel fine but I will speak in detail to the media tomorrow," Koirala told AFP from home shortly after his release. Koirala, leader of the Nepali Congress (NC) party, was among 83 people freed Friday in the Kathmandu Valley, said a senior police official, who asked not to be named.
"All over Nepal, a little more than 200 people have been released," he said. The 82-year-old Koirala had been held since February 1 when King Gyanendra sacked the government and declared emergency rule in the Himalayan nation. "It seems the king realized that he cannot suppress human rights and democratic process so he was forced to release Mr. Koirala," the former premier's lawyer, Harihar Dahal, told AFP.
The king had been forced to effect the release "following continued pressure from the public," the lawyer said. His release, Dahal added, would bring "a new momentum and added energy" to the anti-monarchy movement. Nepali Congress student leader Shrijana Karki said the freeing of the respected politician would spur activists to mobilise in even greater numbers against the king.
"Mr Koirala looks cheerful and his health condition is good," Karki said. "Now we will step up our movement against the king's moves," she added. "We are now waiting for his (Koirala's) guidance for our future plans." During Gyanendra's emergency rule hundreds of political and human rights activists, student leaders and journalists have been rounded up, many of whom were arrested while staging anti-monarchy protests in defiance of a ban on rallies.
Nepal has come under increasing pressure from the world community, including international donors, to free the detainees and restore fundamental rights. The Hindu kingdom relies on international donor aid and loans for more than half its development budget, a major prop for an economy devastated by a Maoist insurgency.
India has joined Britain in cutting off military aid to the country. Nepal's ill-equipped army depends heavily on foreign help to fight the rebels, who are battling to install a communist republic. India reacted swiftly Friday welcoming Koirala's release and saying it hoped all other detained activists would also be freed. "Government of India calls for the removal of all curbs on civil liberties and fundamental rights and the lifting of media censorship and restrictions on movement to enable the people of Nepal to enjoy their legitimate constitutional and democratic rights," said a foreign ministry statement released in New Delhi.
This, it said, would help pave the way for reconciliation between the various parties "leading to a restoration of multi-party democracy." India, which shares a nearly 1,600-kilometer (990-mile) border with the Himalayan kingdom, is also concerned the ongoing Maoist violence in Nepal could spill into Indian states where radical leftist groups are powerful.
The king said he had taken over government to control the rebellion which has claimed more than 11,000 lives since it was launched in 1996. The freeing of the detainees comes on the eve of the start of an 11-day nationwide general strike called by the Maoists.
Philippines asks Washington not to blacklist terror-linked Muslim rebel group due to peace talks
Jim Gomez, Associated Press, 3/30/2005
The Philippines has asked Washington not to include a Muslim separatist group, which has been linked to Jemaah Islamiyah and other radical groups, on a U.S. terrorism blacklist, saying the move could derail peace talks, an official said Wednesday. There has been speculation that Washington has been considering whether to add the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to its list of terrorist organizations due to widespread reports, mostly from Philippine police and military officials, about the rebel group's alleged terrorism links.
Asked at a news conference about such prospects, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the government has asked Washington to hold off on any listing to foster Malaysian-brokered talks between Manila and the MILF that are scheduled to resume in Kuala Lumpur next month. "The national government has made it known to the U.S. that maybe we should give the peace process a chance to move forward," Ermita said. "We have somehow expressed to them that the MILF should not be included in the list of foreign terrorist organizations. That is for the moment."
Teresita Deles, a presidential adviser on the peace talks, said placing the MILF on the U.S. terror list could derail the talks. Communist guerrillas suspended peace negotiations after Philippine officials declined their demand for the government to push for their removal from U.S. and European Union terror lists.
While many military and police officials point to strong links between MILF guerrillas and Jemaah Islamiyah, including joint training in MILF strongholds and involvement in terrorist plots, the president's top aides have said some rebels appear to have linked up with the foreign militants without the knowledge of their leaders.
The MILF has renounced terrorism and repeatedly denied any links with Jemaah Islamiyah and other foreign militant groups. It also has forged a cease-fire with the government that has halted major clashes for months. Some security officials have said guerrillas from groups like the extremist Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah have sought refuge in MILF camps, believing troops would not launch offensives there to safeguard the cease-fire and peace talks.
U.S. officials have expressed concern about the presence of Jemaah Islamiyah training camps in the southern Philippines, saying militants acquire bombing and other deadly skills there that they could use anywhere. The Jemaah Islamiyah camps are located in MILF lairs, Philippine security officials say. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Wednesday visited the MILF's main stronghold, Camp Abubakar, which was captured by troops a few years ago, and inspected U.S.-funded projects with American officials.
UN urges Serbs to enter talks on Kosovo's future
Daniel McLaughlin, The Irish Times, 3/29/2005
SERBIA and MONTENEGRO: The United Nations' administrator for Kosovo urged Serbia's leaders yesterday to prepare for talks on the region's status with its ethnic Albanian politicians, in meetings that were marred by reports of a brutal attack on an elderly Serb couple in the province. "We are moving into some very important months for the future of Kosovo, for the future of the region," said Soren Jessen-Petersen after a two-day visit to Belgrade.
He said he detected "a clear readiness" in Serb president Boris Tadic for negotiations with Kosovo's Albanian leaders, and that nationalist Serb prime minister Vojislav Kostunica did not explicitly reject such discussions. Kosovo's Albanian majority wants independence from Serbia-Montenegro, but Belgrade is only willing to offer broad autonomy to a region that has been run by the UN since 1999, when Nato bombing ended a Serb crackdown on Albanian rebels.
About 10,000 people died in the conflict, which was followed by an exodus of Serbs who became the targets of reprisals. Mr Jessen-Petersen said discussions on Kosovo's final status could start as early as September, providing the province meets a set of UN standards on human rights, minority rights and security by June or July.
"Just four months ago I did not feel Belgrade was focused that the status talks would happen this year," he said. "The very focus on that I consider a welcome development." He also praised the resumption of direct talks between Serb and ethnic Albanian officials who met recently to discuss the fate of hundreds of people still missing since the war.
"Direct dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is a good basis to build up confidence and trust." Serb media - most of which is staunchly anti-Albanian - reported yesterday that Nedeljko and Nevenka Vucic, both over 70 years of age, had been viciously attacked by "a gang of Albanians" in northern Kosovo. A local doctor said that Nedeljko had suffered broken ribs, damaged lungs and had an ear cut off, while his wife Nevenka sustained head and chest injuries.
Sri Lanka Negotiation Simulation
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Eastern Sudan rebels want Port Sudan justice before peace talks
Agence France Presse, 3/30/2005
Rebels in eastern Sudan are demanding that Sudanese security forces responsible for the January deaths of civilians in Port Sudan riots to be tried by an international court before they agree to peace talks with Khartoum. The so-called "Eastern Front" comprising the Beja Congress and the Free Lions made the demands in rebel-held territory at a meeting here near the Eritrean border to plot strategy after Khartoum's mid-February offer of talks.
"We have some conditions before starting peace talks," said Salah Barqueen, a leader of the Beja Congress. "If the Khartoum government is serious, it must bring to justice those who committed the Port Sudan crimes." "The criminals have to be judged by an international court," he told AFP late on Tuesday. According to Khartoum, at least 14 people were killed in Port Sudan in late January when Sudanese police dispersed what they said was a riot of Beja Congress supporters. The rebels say at least 36 civilians were killed.
In the aftermath of the violence, Khartoum pledged in to hold talks with the rebels but the offer has been met with widespread skepticism here. Like their counterparts in the Darfur region of western Sudan, the ethnic minority Eastern Front rebels in Red Sea and Kassala states complain of marginalisation by the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum.
And, the conditions set for the talks echo demands made by Darfur's rebels who this month said there would be no further talks with Khartoum until those responsible for atrocities in the west are tried by an international court. Both the Beja Congress and the Free Lions are drawn from the descendants of 19th century immigrants to Sudan from the Arabian peninsula.
The Beja Congress took up arms against Khartoum in 1994 and was followed five years later by the Free Lions. In addition to setting out their demands for talks with Khartoum, the Eastern Front, which was formed in February, announced the election of a new slate of leaders. Beja Congress president, Musa Mohamed Ahmed, was elected president of the group while Free Lions president, Mubruk Mubarak Selim, was elected secretary general. A woman, Amna Derar, was elected vice-president of the movement.
Peace Negotiations Watch is prepared by the Public International Law and Policy Group in cooperation with American University and is made possible by grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ploughshares Fund.