Rebel group signs Qatar-backed Darfur peace plan

By Ahmed Yusuf

DOHA, Qatar (AA) - A prominent Darfurian rebel group has signed a framework peace agreement with the Sudanese government with a view to resolving the volatile region’s ongoing conflict.

On Monday, the Sudan Liberation Movement-Second Revolution (SLM-SR) officially signed the "Doha Document for Peace in Darfur" in the Qatari capital.

The agreement was signed by SLM-SR leader Abu al-Qasim Imam and Sudanese Vice-President Amin Hassan Omar.

Monday’s signing ceremony was also attended by Qatari Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud and Jeremiah Nyamane Kingsley Mamabolo, representative of the UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

In 2007, Imam split from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur and signed a peace deal in Libyan capital Tripoli with the Sudanese government.

His group took up arms against Khartoum in 2010, however, after accusing the government of violating the terms of the peace deal.

The Doha Document was first signed in mid-2011 by Khartoum and the Liberation and Justice Movement, a Darfurian rebel group.

The deal, however, was not signed at the time by Darfur’s two other leading rebel movements, the SLM and the Justice and Equality Movement.

Since 2003, Darfur has been the scene of fierce conflict between the Sudanese government and rebel groups.

The UN says more than 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict, while Khartoum puts the number at less than 10,000.