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           Sudan's Darfur Votes on Political Future, Rebels Cry Foul

   by Reuters

   Darfur is began voting on Monday in a referendum on whether to reunite
   the states of their arid western region into one entity, a poll that
   Sudan says will settle a contentious issue at the heart of
   the long-running conflict.

   The Sudanese government's decision to split Darfur into three states in
   1994 helped fuel discontent that erupted into fighting in 2003 --
   rebels and many from the large Fur tribe said the break-up allowed
   Khartoum to divide and rule them.

   Sudan, which later split Darfur further into five states, has presented
   this week's vote as a major concession. But rebel and opposition groups
   have again cried foul, saying the vote will be rigged and calling on
   their supporters to boycott it.

   Students inside El Fasher University, in the government-controlled
   capital of North Darfur state, protested against the vote and witnesses
   said similar rallies took place in at least three refugee camps in
   Central Darfur state.

   "I will not take part in the referendum as the results are already
   known. The option of states will win as this is what the government
   wants. This referendum is meaningless," said one man at Abu Shouk
   refugee camp outside El Fasher, where the turnout was weak.

   Analysts and diplomats say the government opposes a unified Darfur,
   concerned that this would give the rebels a platform to push for
   independence-- just as the south successfully did in 2011, taking with
   it most of the country's oil reserves.

   Turnout was strong in the center of El Fasher, where security forces
   were out in force.

   Rebel boycott
   "We came out since morning to give our opinion... I want the states
   system, it's best for us," Samia Abkar, a 24-year-old woman in tattered
   clothing, told Reuters at a polling center.

   The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribes took up
   arms against the Arab-led government based in the capital Khartoum,
   accusing it of discrimination and of marginalizing the area.

   According to the United Nations, as many as 300,000 people have been
   killed in Darfur, some 4.4 million people need aid and more than 2.5
   million have been displaced.

   Although the killings have eased in recent years, the insurgency
   continues and Khartoum has sharply escalated attacks on rebel groups
   over the past year.

   The two main rebel groups fighting in Darfur, the Justice and Equality
   Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army, have called on their followers
   not to take part in the three-day referendum.

   They had called for a political settlement to come first and have
   warned that the referendum will only lead to more violence.

   South Sudan, roughly the same size as a unified Darfur, fought the
   north through decades of civil war until a 2005 peace deal gave it the
   right to a referendum on whether to secede.

   In 2011, southerners overwhelmingly voted to declare independence and
   South Sudan became independent that year though both countries remain
   at loggerheads over disputed territories and other issues while the
   south has slipped into civil war.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/sudans-darfur-votes-on-political-futu
   re-rebels-cry-foul/3279864.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/sudans-darfur-votes-on-political-future-rebels-cry-foul/3279864.html