Darfur parties gather in Nigeria for new round of peace talks

Nov 28, 2005 (ABUJA) — Two rival faction of the main Darfur rebel group will both be represented at a new round of talks aimed at ending the fighting in the western region of Sudan, an African Union official said Monday.

A split in the Sudanese Liberation Movement has been blamed for an upsurge in violence in Darfur and had proved an obstacle during the last round of AU-mediated talks, which ended in October. The new round was initially scheduled to resume on Nov. 21 but was postponed until Tuesday.

Both factions resolved at a meeting in Chad over the weekend to attend the talks with one common negotiating platform. But both factions’ leaders — Minni Minawi and Abdelwahed al-Nur — were in Abuja for the talks.

“It was agreed that the two factions should be represented,” said AU spokesman Nouredinne Mezni.

Earlier this month, Minawi organized a congress at which he was elected president, removing Nur as chairman. Since then, both have claimed leadership. U.S., U.N. European and AU officials have pressed the factions to resolve their differences, saying they are undermining the peace process and risk losing international credibility and support.

The Sudanese government delegation was expected in Abuja later Monday in preparation for Tuesday’s talks.

On Monday, Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir urged all parties to the conflict to work toward peace.

“We believe that time is now ripe and it is imperative that the coming round of (talks) in Abuja be successful,” al-Beshir said during a speech at the inaugural sitting in Khartoum, Sudan of the country’s new unity parliament.

The Sudanese parliament includes former southern rebels and was established under an agreement struck in January to end more than two decades of north-south war. That war was unrelated to the Darfur conflict, but its resolution fueled hope that fighting in the west also could be resolved at the peace table.

After decades of low-level tribal clashes over land and water in Darfur, rebels from ethnic African tribes launched a large-scale conflict in early 2003, accusing the Arab-dominated central government of neglect.

The central government is accused of responding by unleashing Arab tribal militias known as Janjaweed to murder and rape civilians and lay waste to villages. The central government denies links to the Janjaweed.

(AP/ST)