Darfur peace talks 'promising'

2007-07-16 11:42

Tripoli - Efforts to end the four-year conflict in Sudan's Darfur region by paving the way for new talks between Khartoum and fragmented rebel groups took a step forward at a meeting in Libya on Monday.

According to a final statement from the two-day conference - organised by the United Nations and the African Union, International envoys and rebel groups, which failed to sign up to a May 2006 peace deal would meet next month to fix a date and venue for the start of negotiations between the warring sides.

The statement said the new meeting would take place in Arusha, Tanzania, between August 03 and 05.

The conference was the latest bid to find ways to end a civil war that had killed an estimated 200 000 people since 2003.

Abuja peace agreement

Said Djinnit, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, said: "I think that the month of September will be crucial for Darfur."

He said the Tripoli conference had highlighted the need to move rapidly towards negotiations between the Sudanese government and rebel movements that did not sign the Abuja peace agreement in 2006.

Djinnit said: "We have been in the constructive phase for some weeks. We are making progress on the peace process and rebel movements are increasingly showing their willingness to resume dialogue."

The meeting was held as the UN examined a revised security council draft resolution authorising a joint peacekeeping force in Darfur for an initial 12 months to replace the embattled AU force.

Khartoum had been accused of sponsoring a genocidal crackdown in Darfur through its Janajaweed militia since rebels took up arms in 2003, complaining of marginalisation by the Islamist government.

The UN estimated that about 200 000 people had been killed and two million displaced.

- AFP