Sudan talks between rebels, govt seen resuming by end May

ROME, May 13, 2005 (AP) — Negotiations on Sudan’s war-ridden Darfur region will resume by the end of the month, officials said Friday, while two main rebel groups involved in the fighting said they remain unconditionally committed to negotiations.

Peace-broker St. Egidio community chief of external relations Mario Giro, left, shares a word with a representative of one of the main Darfur rebel groups – the Justice and Equality Movement, spokesman Ahmed Hussain Adam -, at a joint press conference with the the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), at the community headquarters in Rome, Friday May 13, 2005. (AP) .

The African Union, which has brokered previous talks between Sudan’s government and the rebels, will reconvene the parties by the end of May or early June, said Mario Giro, an official at the Sant’Egidio Community in Rome, which mediates world conflicts. Sant’Egidio hosted a weeklong meeting between leaders of the two main rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement.

A cease-fire between the rebels and the government has been largely ignored in past months, with violence continuing in the large area of western Sudan where the U.N. estimates 180,000 people have died since February 2003, mainly from war-induced hunger and disease.

African Union spokesman Assane Ba confirmed that consultations are underway to restart peace talks either at the end of May or early in June.

Rebel leaders in Rome for the talks issued a joint statement saying they wish to resume the talks that began in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, in December 2004.

“We make a solemn commitment to resume as soon as possible the Abuja negotiations under the auspices of the African Union without preconditions,” the statement said.

Talks broke down after the rebels boycotted the meetings, alleging the government had launched a new offensive in violation of the cease-fire.

In Friday’s statement, rebel leaders also said they support the African Union’s plan to more than double its peacekeeping force in Darfur by the end of September.

Darfur has been torn by violence since rebels of ethnic African tribes took up arms, complaining of discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum. A pro-government Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed, launched a counterinsurgency, attacking ethnic African villages and committing atrocities.

“The Janjaweed are still in action, the security and humanitarian situation is still very bad and we want that to improve,” said Ahmed Hussain Adam, spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement. He urged the international community to put pressure on the Sudanese government to seriously commit to the peace process.