Sudan blames rebels for aborted talks

KHARTOUM, Sudan, July 18, 2004 (UPI) — The Sudanese government Sunday accused rebels of purposely sabotaging peace talks sponsored by the Organization of African Unity in Ethiopia.

The leader of the government’s negotiating team, Majdoub al-Khalifa, told United Press International in Khartoum the representatives of two major rebel groups in Darfour, in Western Sudan, were not serious about ending the strife.

He was speaking after the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Organization — the major armed groups in Darfour — withdrew Saturday from peace talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, aimed at ending the fighting in Darfour.

The rebel groups accused the Sudanese government of failing to meet six demands and then pulled out of the talks, which eventually collapsed.

Al-Khalifa said his delegation presented a comprehensive plan to achieve security and stability in Darfour within the framework of an agreement with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to resolve the crisis in three months.

He said the rebels did not respond to the government’s “constructive positions and its serious efforts to use these talks to resolve the Darfour crisis,” in which hundreds of thousands have been killed or left homeless.