Mediators work hard to reach Darfur peace deal – Rice

May 3, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that international mediators were working hard to reach a Darfur peace accord at talks in Nigeria.

Rice said she had been updated on the efforts underway in Abuja, to which her deputy Robert Zoellick has been dispatched.

“They are all working very hard,” Rice said as she welcomed her Japanese counterpart Taro Aso to the State Department.

“I hope the parties will take this opportunity to get a peace agreement and lay a foundation on which the violence can end and so the people of Darfur can be safe and live in peace,” she said.

In Abuja, the African Union’s make-or-break bid to resolve Darfur’s bloody civil war appeared deadlocked Wednesday as officials extended the deadline for a peace agreement by a further 48 hours.

The United States, Britain, Canada, France, the European Union, the Arab League, Libya and Eritrea are among international partners of the effort.

Darfur, an arid rural area of western Sudan the size of France, erupted into civil war in early 2003 when militants there rebelled against the Khartoum government to push demands for more regional autonomy.

Janjaweed militias allegedly backed by Khartoum launched a brutal counter-attack and the conflict has since cost between 180,000 and 300,000 lives and driven more than 2.4 million people from their homes.

(ST)