Darfur ceasefire may be over before it starts

The fragile ceasefire Gov. Bill Richardson claimed to have brokered between the Sudanese government and rebel groups last week may never happen.

It turns out that Richardson had a pledge from some rebel groups in the war-torn Darfur region, but the rebels are fractured and some of the groups say they never agreed to and aren’t on board with the ceasefire.

Reuters quoted some rebel groups as pledging to uphold the ceasefire, and others as saying they have not agreed to a ceasefire. Those who made a pledge to Richardson are vowing to uphold it, but there are more than a dozen rebel groups in Darfur, the news service reported.

The United Nations said Monday that up to 51 people have been killed in clashes in the past week, so the fighting is continuing. The United Nations also said several villages were attacked and burned and many people were left homeless.

And rebels are claiming that the Sudanese government bombed rebel areas earlier today in violation of its agreement to the ceasefire, Reuters is reporting in a separate article. The government is denying the claim.

The Sudanese president has agreed to the ceasefire, but has a history of making commitments he doesn’t keep.

Richardson, in a statement released Friday to the Associated Press after some rebel groups said they had not agreed to a truce, said the Sudanese president and rebel leaders “made a clear commitment to a 60-day ceasefire. Nonetheless, I do expect glitches like this down the road.”