Darfur rebels stopped on way to talks

October 12, 2007 (JUBA, Sudan) — Some 22 representatives of Darfur rebel groups were stopped by Sudanese government forces on their way to talks in the country’s south, southern Sudanese officials said on Friday.

There was no immediate comment from the Sudanese government.

Rebel leaders were meeting to build a consensus before peace talks set for Oct. 27 in Libya.

They arrived safely in Juba, south Sudan’s capital, after they were besieged at an airstrip on Thursday for three hours, said Clement Janda, head of a taskforce organising the talks.

“The SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) went and besieged the airstrip where the local commanders were being airlifted,” said Kuol Diem Kuol, the south Sudan army spokesman.

The aircraft were released from the airstrip in the north Darfur town of Kotum after Sudan’s Foreign Affairs Minister Lam Akol and others intervened, Kuol said.

The officials did not identify the rebel groups involved.

The standoff comes less than a week after rebel forces accused the Sudanese army of killing at least 45 people in the rebel-controlled Darfur town of Muhajiriya. The government said tribal clashes were to blame.

The talks in the south will begin as soon as most of the groups reached Juba, south Sudan government spokesman Samson Kwaje told Reuters on Thursday.

U.N. Darfur envoy Jan Eliasson on Thursday urged all rebel factions to attend the Libya talks, calling them “a moment of truth” to stop the violence.

International experts estimate 200,000 have died in the Darfur conflict and 2.5 million driven from their homes in 4-1/2 years of fighting.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), former south Sudan rebels who now lead the semi-autonomous government of southern Sudan, are organising the talks in Juba.

The SPLM signed a peace deal with Khartoum in 2005. Months of disagreement over implementation culminated in the withdrawal of SPLM ministers from the national government on Thursday.

(Reuters)