AU says Darfur rebels attacked government convoy

KHARTOUM, July 26 (Reuters) – The African Union said on Tuesday rebels in Sudan’s Darfur region killed three government soldiers in an attack on a troop convoy in the area.

A Sudanese official previously told Reuters the government responded to the attack on its convoy on Saturday with an assault the next day on nearby rebel camps.

Rebels reported the government used helicopters in an attack in an area along the main road between al-Fasher and Nyala, hitting villages and killing seven civilians.

“The SLM (Sudan Liberation Movement) attacked a government convoy on Saturday. … That is confirmed. … Three (government) military personnel were killed in the attack,” said an AU official who did not want to be named.

The official from the AU, which is monitoring a shaky ceasefire in the region, said he was waiting for a report by AU investigators in the area on the later attacks.

One analyst said the fighting, which came after a lull in recent months, showed that there was a lack of commitment from the government and the two main rebel groups towards peace talks being held in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

“The world wants to see Darfur resolved … but people are corralled into attending Abuja when the commitment from both sides just isn’t there,” said Andrew Marshall, deputy director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue based in Geneva.

Tens of thousands have been killed and around 2 million driven from their homes since rebels launched a rebellion in early 2003, accusing the government of neglect and arming militias to burn and loot villages.

The government denies the claim.

The government and the two main rebel groups in Darfur signed a declaration of principles in the Nigerian capital Abuja earlier this month.

The agreement deals with broad-based principles for talks, but leaves the main issues to be discussed in more detail on Aug. 24 when African Union-sponsored negotiations resume.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Sudan last week and told Sudanese officials she wanted to see “actions not words” to quell violence in Darfur.