Sudan’s Darfur talks parties start direct negotiation
Nov 30, 2005 (ABUJA) — Peace talks set up to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in the western Sudanese region of Darfur took a small step forward Wednesday when face-to-face talks began between the warring government and rebel forces, African Union officials said.
“Direct negotiation among the parties started today at the level of commission. The first commission that met this morning was the commission on power sharing,” Nourredine Mezni told AFP.
“AU chief negotiator Salim Ahmed Salim has urged all the parties to speed up the negotiating process so that agreements could be quickly reached on the issues slated for discussion,” he said.
From next week the commissions — committees set up to pursue narrower agendas alongside the main talks — will meet three times per day instead of once, he added.
Mezni also welcomed the news that the rebel Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) had sent a single delegation to the meeting. Previous talks have been delayed because of splits in rebel ranks.
The AU launched a seventh round of peace talks on the crisis on Tuesday, when delegates expressed optimism that the latest meeting would finally bring an end to 33 months of bloodshed.
Previous negotiations between the Sudanese government and two rebel movements have been undermined by regular ceasefire violations, and the United Nations has warned that the Darfur region is falling into chaos, with murder, robbery and rape on the increase.
UN agencies estimate that the crisis triggered by the conflict has left 300,000 dead and driven two million people from their homes into refugee camps which are prey to disease and militia raids.
War broke out in February 2003 when the rebels began fighting what they say is the political and economic marginalisation of the region’s black African tribes by the Arab-led regime in Khartoum.
At the sixth round of talks the parties accepted general principles on power sharing and human rights, but made little concrete progress towards a broader agreement.
(AFP/ST)