Amid Darfur 'peace' residents cite gunfire, rape

Almost a decade after government-backed Janjaweed militias began a "genocide" in Sudan's Darfur, shootings, rapes, looting and arson continue, residents say. But officials are touting a deal signed last year between the government and an alliance of rebel splinter factions
as the best hope for peace, and say security is showing signs of improvement.
"Darfur is at a crossroads," Ibrahim Gambari, who leads UNAMID, the joint African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur, said in a statement on Wednesday.
"One direction is toward more peace, more progress, more movement toward early recovery and development; and one side is leaning towards the enemies of peace, the spoilers."
Darfur plunged into uncertainty in December when government forces announced they had killed Khalil Ibrahim, who led the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), once Darfur's most heavily armed group.
JEM said this week that it is "still active and still able to do what we want", despite the loss of Ibrahim.
The group has not signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, which Khartoum inked in Qatar.
"I think they still feel bitter about the death of their leader," said Khalil Adam, of a UNAMID-backed citizens' liaison group. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>