Darfur rebel leader's death hampers peace effort: UN

The killing of Darfur's most powerful rebel leader could split his group and complicate efforts to end the fighting in the Sudanese region, the head of an international peacekeeping mission said on Wednesday.

The Darfur conflict has been rumbling on since 2003 when mainly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, accusing it of political and economic neglect. In December, the Sudanese army killed Khalil Ibrahim, head of the most militarily powerful rebel group, the Justice Equality Movement (JEM). Ibrahim Gambari, head of the U.N./African Union (UNAMID) peacekeepers, said he feared JEM would fracture after Khalil's death, which would hurt attempts to bring it to the negotiating table. Apart from the ongoing fighting, divisions among the rebels are one of the biggest obstacles to peace because the international community has to deal with dozens of groups. JEM was one of the last insurgent groups of any size. "My fear is that they might (split). They may have nobody to unify," Gambari said in an interview. He said JEM could splinter into several factions of field commanders if Khalil's brother Jibril did not emerge as the new leader. In any case, the group would be unlikely to discuss resuming negotiations until they sorted out the succession. Asked if JEM might rejoin peace talks soon, Gambari said: "I doubt they will. They just lost their leader." (Reuters)