The two armed rebel groups active in Darfur when the region erupted into major conflict in 2003 – the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) –  have since splintered into a bewildering array of often warring factions.

Darfur means "home of the Fur" - the largest African-descended community in the region. The second biggest ethnic group is the Masalit, followed by the Zaghawa. The other major community consists of Arab tribes, known as Darfuris of Arab descent.

One major split took place in November 2005, when SLM military leader Minni Minnawi, an ethnic Zaghawa, broke with political leader Abdul Wahid Mohamed el-Nur, an ethnic Fur. In 2006, Minnawi’s faction was the only armed group to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement. He subsequently took up an advisory post with the government in Khartoum.

There are now at least a dozen, and perhaps as many as 16, armed groups with origins in either JEM or SLM.

Mediators of the current peace process face major difficulties due to the proliferation of groups and their disunity. Key players did not attend the opening of the talks in Sirte, Libya, including Minnawi and Abdul Wahid.

The groups at the Sirte talks included:

The Justice and Equality Movement-Azraq (JEM-Azraq) - led by Mohamed Idriss Azraq. This faction broke away from the original SLM (see below), which was led by Khalil Ibrahim. It is also known as the Darfur Liberation Movement.

The delegation in Sirte was led by Ibrahim Abdallah. The group represents Darfuris of African descent and calls for "self-determination".

The Justice and Equality Movement-Collective Leadership (JEM-Collective Leadership) - led by Bahar Idriss Aboard, who did not come to Sirte. It represents Darfuris of African descent. Tadjedin Niam has spoken at the talks on the group’s behalf.

The National Movement for Reformation and Development (NMRD) - led by Jibril Abdel Karim, a Zaghawa, but represented in Sirte by Khalil Abdullah. The group broke away from JEM in 2004.

The Revolutionary Democratic Forces Front (RDFF) - led by Salaa Abdurahman Abussra, who attended the Sirte talks. The group represents Arab communities. Abussra says his group has been in existence for "many" years but only took on the RDFF name in 2006.

Regarding the Janjawid militia (see below), Abussra said his group has been absorbing some of these men to weaken the government's strength in the region. He claimed the government had been using the Janjawid to fight its opponents.

The Revolutionary United Movement (RUM) aka URFF - led by Alhadi Agabeldour, who was the head of its delegation. The group represents Arab communities.

RDFF and RUM had previously been regarded as pro-government but have been at the talks as resistance movements.

The Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SFDA) - led by Ahmed Ibrahim Diraige, who was also the delegation’s leader. Unlike most others, this group is not a breakaway faction of either JEM or SLA. Diraige, according to Sudanese sources, is somebody to watch in the absence of Abdul Wahid Mohamed el-Nur, who boycotted the talks and enjoys grassroots support. The group represents Darfuris of African descent.

The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) - led by Khamis Abdallah Abakar and headed at Sirte by Mohammed Ali Nasser, who is the group's deputy for political affairs. The group represents Darfuris of African descent.

The Sudan Liberation Movement-Unity (SLM-Unity) - led by Abdallah Yahya. Initially part of the Group of 19 under the original SLM, Adam Bakhiet led the group in Sirte. It represents Darfuris of African descent.

Among those absent from the initial Sirte talks were:

A Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) faction led by Khalil Ibrahim, who is a member of the Zaghawa. JEM has shunned the Sirte talks to protest the presence of resistance movements it alleges have no influence or presence on the ground in Darfur.

Factions of the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) led by:

- Abdul Wahid Mohamed el-Nur, who comes from the Fur community and is widely regarded as the most popular of the rebel leaders in Darfur. He has been in Paris and has refused to join the peace process until the UN/African Union Hybrid Mission (UNAMID) deploys in Darfur.

- Ahmed Abdel Shafi, who later wrote to the AU-UN mediation team seeking participation. Shafi is a member of the Fur ethnic group and split from Wahid's SLA/M. He attended the Juba talks that were aimed at unifying and reconciling the movements ahead of the Sirte talks. Sudanese sources said he was still in Juba and the mediation team would meet him in Darfur to bring the group into the process.

The Sudan Liberation Army/Movement-Unity (SLA/M-Unity) - an alliance of several leaders of resistance movements, only one SLM-Unity faction has been attending the Sirte talks (see above).

The Janjawid – Musa Hilal, has publicly associated himself with the Janjawid, and is sometimes seen as its leader. Widely accused of committing atrocities in Darfur, the pro-government militia has fought alongside Sudanese government forces against the Darfur rebels since the conflict began. Reports of inter-Arab conflict however suggest that a single Arab militia under central command is unlikely.

Delegates attending the Darfur peace talks in Libya – apparently undaunted by the no-show of several key rebel groups - have called for a peaceful end to the suffering of civilians and a political agreement that strengthens the communities living in the war-ravaged region.

"We are looking for unity, not fragmentation," Abusaid El Hassan, one of four speakers for the Sudanese government delegation said during a plenary session on 28 October.

Abdel Magid Dosa, coordinator and legal consultant of the Sudan National Movement for Reformation and Development, a civil society group, said: "We are serious about being here; we are all aware that war is not in man's nature, rather it is peace that is the nature of man.

"The reason for the violence in Darfur is the scorched-earth policy that the government has adopted. The government is the one bombarding the people because rebel movements there do not own planes."

The government delegation is led by Nafie Ali Nafie, while Ahmed Ibrahim Diraige of the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance spoke on behalf of the movements present during the opening of the talks on 27 October and their desire for peace.

Other speakers at the plenary stressed the need to end suffering and violence through a political agreement that would ensure Sudan does not disintegrate.

However, Ibrahim Abdallah, a representative of the Justice and Equality Movement faction led by Idriss Ibrahim Azraq, broke ranks with the others, saying the "right to self-determination is the final solution" for the Darfur crisis.

"We must recognise that a unity based on the marginalisation of another part of the country is unworkable," he said. "We must have self-determination after a transitory phase because the surveys that our organisation has carried out in IDP [internally displaced persons] camps in Darfur show that 80 percent of the displaced support the right to self-determination."

Most speakers agreed the core of the Darfur crisis was hinged on the security of the Darfur people, cessation of hostilities, economic recovery, land and governance.

Mohamed Ali Nasser, representing the Sudan Liberation Movement, said the nature of the dispute in Darfur was social, political and economic. "We know that freedom is not granted or inherited - one has to struggle for it and we will strive for it through negotiations," he said.

Four and a half years of violence in Darfur has led to the deaths of an estimated 200,000 people and the displacement of another two million.

The Sirte talks follow the signing in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2006 of the Darfur Peace Agreement. Signed by one faction of the already-splintered Sudan Liberation Movement, the agreement quickly fell apart.

On 29 October, the UN Secretary-General’s envoy to Darfur Jan Eliasson and his AU counterpart Salim Ahmed Salim, who are mediating the Sirte talks, met representatives from the Sudanese government, civil society, international partners and rebel groups.

"I refuse to state that the peace process is interrupted," Eliasson told reporters. "The train has left the station for the road to peace. The question is how many passengers will get on the train."

Meanwhile, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes has expressed concern over alleged forced relocations in an IDP camp in South Darfur.

The Sudanese government has denied the incident.

"I am alarmed about the reports of forced relocation last night [28 October] from Otash camp in Nyala, South Darfur, both about the manner in which the relocations were apparently carried out and the possibility that such action could contribute to more violence," Holmes said in New York.

Otash camp shelters over 60,000 people and during the incident new IDPs from Kalma camp, the largest in Darfur, were surrounded by police. A team comprising personnel from the UN, the AU Mission in Sudan and the International Organisation for Migration was denied access to the camp by the representative of the Humanitarian Aid Commission.

According to the UN, the team managed to enter the camp, and witnessed 10 vehicles with heavy machine guns surrounding a group of IDPs, while eight large commercial trucks were being loaded with the belongings of women and children. The police said the people were being moved to Amakassara.

Libya has freed six foreign medical personnel who were convicted of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV and sentenced to death. In jail since 1999, the five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, today. The president of Bulgaria, Georgi Parvanov promptly pardoned them.

All six have maintained their innocence throughout. They have also claimed that they suffered torture to extract confessions. International HIV experts testified at the trials that the infections began before the six arrived at the Benghazi hospital. They said the infections were more likely the result of poor hygiene.

Last week, Libya lifted the death sentences following a US$460 million financial settlement, which works out to US$1 million to each HIV victim's family. However, Libya insisted on further concessions on relations with the European Union and aid.

A deal between the E.U. and Libya, mediated by Qatar, ended the diplomatic standoff. The foreign minister of Libya, Abdel Rahman Shalgham said the E.U. promised to provide "life-long treatment" to the infected children, as well as aid to "improve the Benghazi hospital" where the children were infected. Further, he claimed that deal will allow for "full cooperation and partnership between Libya and the European Union."

"We hope to go on further [in] normalising our relations with Libya. Our relations with Libya were to a large extent blocked by the non-settlement of this medics issue," said José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.

The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, said that neither the E.U. nor France paid money to Libya. He also said he would visit Libya on Wednesday to help Tripoli's reintegration. "I can quite simply confirm to you that neither Europe nor France have made the slightest financial contribution to Libya," said Sarkozy to reporters in Paris. "I have had the opportunity to thank the Qatari authorities very warmly for their mediation and their humanitarian intervention."

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Commissioner for External Relations, said: "I share the joy of their families and friends and of the government and people of Bulgaria. For over eight years, we have never forgotten the suffering of the medical staff who have shown such dignity and fortitude during their long ordeal."

"Now I still can't believe that I am standing on Bulgarian soil. We were told the news at four o'clock in the morning and we left the jail at quarter to six to board the plane. Now I will try to get my previous life back," said Kristiyana Vulcheva, 48, upon her release at the airport.

Last week, Libya lifted the death sentence for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinean doctor in the case about the HIV infection of hundreds of Libyan children. The deal called for a US$460 million settlement for the families of the children.

However, now Libya is holding out for a better deal. According to reports, Libya is seeking more money for the treatment of the children, as well as normalized relations with the European Union. Another sticking point in making a deal has been that Bulgaria and the EU are unwilling to strike any deal that admits the guilt of the medics, whose innocence they insist upon.

The Supreme Court in Libya has upheld the death sentence for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian medical intern condemned for infecting 426 children with HIV. Just one day ago, a deal to free the foreign medics was announced.

The six defendants were not present at the court ruling, while family members of the children rejoiced when the judge confirmed the verdict. "This is a victory for the Libyan judiciary system. We are awaiting the execution of the death sentence," said Al-Monseif Khalifa, a lawyer for the plaintives.

E.U. Commission President José Manuel Barroso remains hopeful that the medics will receive clemency. "We regret that these decisions have been made, but I also want to express my confidence that a solution will be found," Barroso told the European Parliament.

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov called for a quick solution. He said the verdict came as no surprise, and expressed his hope for a swift final solution. The case will now move to the Supreme Judiciary Council which will hear the case on Monday, according to Libya's Foreign Minister, Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam. The Council is headed by the Justice Minister of Libya.

Late Tuesday, the Gaddafi Foundation, a non-profit run by the son of Libya's de facto leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, said a deal had been reached to free the health workers. The head of the Association for the Families of the HIV-Infected Children, Idriss Lagha, also said announced that a deal could be reached soon.

After the verdict today, Salah Abdessalem, a spokesman for the Gadhafi International Foundation for Charity Associations, reconfirmed to the Associated Press that a settlement to free the detainees still exists, which he said was acceptable to all parties and would end the crisis, without giving further details.

Unnamed officials who wished to remain anonymous disclosed the deal would involve financial compensation in exchange for the death sentences being commuted to a prison sentence, according to the Associated Press. E.U. officials say the European Union would agree to establish a fund of tens of millions of dollars to pay for the children's future medical care. Bulgaria and the European Union are calling it humanitarian aid instead of compensation, which would imply that their citizens would be guilty.

The convicted nurses and medical intern began working in the El-Fath Children's Hospital in Benghazi in 1998, and were arrested and jailed one year later when over 400 children were found to be infected with HIV -over 50 have died since. They were sentenced to death in 2004, and again after a retrial last December which came after an international outcry about the affair.

A scientific report by professors Luc Montagnier (one of the original discoverers of the virus causing AIDS) and Vittorio Colizzi used as evidence for the defence in the case said that the virus causing AIDS was widely spread in the hospital before the health workers even arrived, and that the infections were due to negligence and poor hygiene procedures in the Benghazi hospital. The prosecution introduced a report of Libyan scientists saying that this was not the case. The detainees have said that they have been tortured to make confessions.

The Gambian trio referees comprising of Modou Sowe, Lamin Camara and Seedy Manneh, last Friday, officiated the first leg of the CAF Champions League match between Al Ittihad of Libya and JS Kabily of Algeria in Tripoli, Libya.

Al Ittihad of Libya won the encounter, attended by over 75,000 spectators, by 1-0.
The only goal of the game was scored in the 84th minute of the encounter.

Tripoli Conference Delegates Make Declaration

As deliberations towards the establishment of a United States of Africa progress in Tripoli, delegates attending the African Activists meeting on Thursday made a declaration supporting the establishment of a United Africa Government.

In the declaration that became known as the Tripoli Declaration, it is stated that the meeting held in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 20th to 21st June 2007 forms the beginning of a public campaign to advance the steps towards establishing a United States of Africa by way of backing the administration of the African Union.

"The main and real stand in Africa is unity not fragments. United Africa is the reality of this continent, divided Africa has no historic root," says the Tripoli Declaration.
The meeting centres strongly on the potential achievements of an African Union government, discussing at length the ways and means of striving to achieve the unity of the continent and strengthen its administration for the happiness and welfare of African citizens.

It is also stated in the declaration that Muammar Al Qaddafi and his brothers among African leaders devote progressive thoughts aimed at establishing a strong United African space able to stand fast against all kinds of challenges, internal and external obstacles.

The meeting, which ends today, was attended by delegates including Ministers, Parliamentarians, politicians, journalists, civil society organisations, youth groups, scholars, women groups, people from the diaspora, just to name a few.

Delegates expressed their appreciation to the leader of the Great Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Muammar Al Qathafi, for his active role and commitment towards seeing a United Africa. The declaration made here by delegates would be tabled for consideration before the African Heads of State in Accra, Ghana in a few days during the African Union Summit in that country.

The Libyan leader, Muammar Al Ghadaffi, has once again reiterated his call for Africans to unite and form a united government.

The Libyan leader made these remarks on yesterday at the opening of a two-day international conference underway in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

According to him there is no justification for delaying the unity of Africa. He therefore underscored the need for the removal of borders; visa and customs requirements so that people can move freely within Africa. “United Africa has the ability to become a super power in the world,” he asserted.

He cited the example of United States of America and Europe, enquiring rhetorically: “Why can’t Africa unite?” He declared his belief in the possibility of African unity.

He claimed that the US Secretary of State, Condolezza Rice, is better known even within Africa than the Commission members of the African Union, whom he said are known only by name as their terms of reference are limited.

He recollected that when efforts were being made to unite America, there was a lot of scepticism that it could not become a reality, explaining that it was nevertheless eventually achieved and that it has ultimately become a superpower.

It could be recalled that the theory of African unity has been expounded by African leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, Kenneth Kaunda, to name but a few. Recent developments have seen the leader of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Muammar Ghaddaffi, forming part of the vanguard to advance African Unity.