Egypt urges rebel factions to join Darfur talks in Libya

October 8, 2007 (CAIRO) — Egypt’s foreign minister met with several Darfur rebel factions on Monday, urging them to join upcoming peace negotiations set for later this month in Libya that are aimed at ending four years of conflict in the western Sudanese region.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit met with representatives from the Sudan Liberation Army, the Justice and Equality Movement and splinter factions from the two larger rebel groups and stressed the necessity for the “participation of all Darfurian factions” in the Oct. 27 talks.

Aboul Gheit called on the rebels to “to halt military operations and seize the chance to prepare for the proper environment to make the negotiations successful,” according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry.

The rebel groups’ envoys who met with Aboul Gheit expressed their enthusiasm for the meeting and said they wanted to reach a peace deal quickly, the statement said.

The Libya meeting is meant to bring the Sudanese government and rebel groups that did not sign a peace deal with Khartoum last year to the negotiating table.

The rival Sudan Liberation Movement faction of Minni Minawi — the only rebel chief who signed 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement — has previously welcomed the new talks eve as U.N. says Minawi’s fighters have increasingly clashed with other Darfur factions.

A key Darfur rebel leader, Khalil Ibrahim of the Justice and Equality Movement, warned last week that his movement would not attend the Libya peace talks with the government, unless the U.N. and the African Union can persuade a rival group to unite its splinter factions for the negotiations.

As host, Libya could be key to getting the groups together. It is believed to hold leverage over several Darfur rebel leaders and has hosted them in the past. Long-ostracized Tripoli is also eager to project an image of regional peacemaker.

Last year’s peace deal between Minawi and Sudan’s central government is viewed as largely ineffective at reducing violence in Darfur.

The underfunded and ill-equipped African Union force of 7,000 peacekeepers now on the ground has been overwhelmed in its efforts to quell Darfur’s bloodshed that has displaced more than 2.5 million people and left more than 200,000 dead since ethnic African rebels took up arms against the central government in February 2003, accusing it of discrimination.

Khartoum is accused of retaliating by unleashing janjaweed militias. The allegations have been rejected by the Sudanese government.

A joint AU-U.N. force of 26,000 peacekeepers is due to deploy later this year.

(AP)