Previous agreements and related documents, 2002 -- 2006

This sub-series contains draft agreements, final agreements, negotiation strategies, concept notes, correspondence, memorandums, agendas, personal reflections, and analyses and assessments of the situation in Darfur relating to the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks on the Conflict in Darfur-Sudan. These documents are primarily from 2004-2006. These documents were created primarily after de Waal became an adviser to the African Union (AU) mediation team in November 2005. They were used to help the mediation team prepare for negotiations between the Government of Sudan (GoS), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and their factions represented at the peace talks. Some of the issues being negotiated were wealth sharing, power sharing, and security arrangements.

Following a series of attacks in Darfur, the GoS and the SLM/A held the first peace talk mediated by President Déby of Chad in August 2003. From August 2003 to May 2004 peace talks were convened four times. In June 2004, the AU deployed the peacekeeping mission in Darfur (African Union Mission in Sudan). In July 2004 the peace talks were reconvened under the title of the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks on the Conflict in Darfur. They were co-mediated by the Chadian government and the AU. From July 2004 to May 2006 there were a total of seven rounds of Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks on the Conflict in Darfur. Some of these talks resulted in signed protocols to govern future negotiation efforts. In November 2005, de Waal became an adviser to the AU mediation team in advance of the seventh round of peace talks.

The seventh round of the peace talks lasted from November 2005 to May 2006. The negotiations were held in Abuja, Nigeria. It was co-mediated by the AU and the Chadian government until the latter’s resignation in April 2006. The GoS, JEM, and two factions of SLM/A, one led by Abdel Wahid Al Nur and the other led by Mini Minawi, were present for these negotiations. Negotiations were first held in the Chida hotel before being moved to the Capitol hotel in Abuja.

On May 5, 2006, the GoS and the SLM/A-Minawi faction signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (also known as the Abuja Agreement). The JEM and SLM/A-Abdel Wahid faction did not sign. In May and June of 2006, de Waal and Sam Ibok, head of the AU mediation team, remained in Abuja to try and convince Abdel Wahid to sign the DPA. This last chance effort was unsuccessful.