Darfur rebels in reconciliation bid
2005-11-19 21:03
Khartoum - The rival leaders of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) in the troubled western region of Darfur held a first meeting on Saturday with African Union and US diplomats sponsoring a reconciliation bid, the state news agency Suna reported.
However, Suna said the talks of more than three hours that brought together Mani Arko Minawi and Abdul Wahid Mohammed Nur did not generate any results.
A high-ranking security official in North Darfur state was quoted as saying the meeting was allowed as "an advance step" for the success of the seventh round of peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, on Monday.
In 2003, Darfur groups complaining of marginalisation launched a rebellion that was violently repressed.
The combined effect of the war and a dire humanitarian crisis in the region has left up to 300 000 dead, according to a British parliamentary report. More than two million people were displaced.
The SLM is the main Darfur rebel group. It was thrown into disarray earlier this month after a congress of hardliners elected Minawi, one of the group's founding military commanders, as the movement's new chairperson.
Nur, the group's founder, dismissed that election as illegitimate.