Darfur rebels downbeat after first session of peace talks

ABUJA, Aug 23 (AFP) — Darfur’s rebel movements are not hopeful of reaching a political solution to their conflict with the Sudanese government at peace talks here, one of their senior negotiators said after the first session.

“From the opening session and from the statement by the Sudanese government, it seems it’s not optimistic,” said Ahmed Mohammed Tugod, chief negotiator of the Justice and Equality Movement, one of two Darfur rebel groups.

Speaking to journalists after the African Union-sponsored peace conference broke up briefly to allow a committee to work out a more precise agenda for the delegates, the rebels said they wanted a broader political agenda.

“The government came with promises about security and development issues,” Tugod said. “We didn’t come here to talk about security and development.

“Darfur is a political problem and it needs a free and frank dialogue to achieve a comprehensive solution. We are ready and available at any time to talk about such a solution,” he said.

“We’re not here to talk about security, we’re here to talk politics.”

AU chairman President Olusegun Obasanjo convened Monday’s talks to bring Darfur’s warring parties together regional powerbrokers in a bid to bring an end to an 18-month-old old conflict which has left 30,000 dead.

Darfur’s two rebel groups have said they will not end theirs struggle until their poverty-stricken western region wins a greater share of economic and political power in Sudan.