The place of Chad at the mediation table is also controversial. Chadian President Idris Deby was brought to power in 1990 by a three- cornered alliance of Zaghawa, Chadian Arabs and Sudanese security. This coalition fell apart when its members went to war in Darfur, and the ailing Deby is desperately playing divide-and-rule among his own Zaghawa kinsmen to prevent another civil war in Chad.

Meanwhile, the best hopes for a settlement may come from connecting external peacemaking to internal initiatives. Darfur's own provincial aristocrats, the paramount chiefs -including the ruling Arab families -are seeking an exit from their predicament: one that restores a conservative social order and salvages their tribes' reputation. If the Janjawiid are to be politically decapitated, it may be through the efforts of these hardened old tribal chiefs, arguing that for the Government and its allies to submit to their mediation is a better option than extradition to The Hague and a cell in a Dutch basement.