West Sudan rebels want conditional peace talks

KHARTOUM, Jan 10 (Reuters) – A west Sudanese rebel group said on Saturday it was ready to resume peace talks with the Khartoum government if it met conditions including allowing international observers to attend any negotiations.

“We will continue fighting but we are prepared to negotiate,” said Hassan Ibrahim, spokesman for the rebel Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLM/A), which has been fighting government forces in the western Darfur region of Sudan.

The SLM/A also wanted Khartoum to allow humanitarian access to rebel-held areas, investigations into what Ibrahim called human rights abuses and an agreement with Khartoum for the establishment of a team to investigate charges civilians have been targeted in the conflict, he said.

The SLM/A, which accuses Khartoum of marginalising Darfur, signed a ceasefire with the government in September but peace talks broke down in December.

It has been fighting government forces in the arid and poor western region of Darfur for almost a year.

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), another group of western rebels which was not a party to the ceasefire between the SLM/A and the government, is also ready to negotiate with Khartoum under certain terms, a spokesman for the group said.

But Abu Bakr Hamid al-Nur declined to say what the terms were. The group’s leader would outline them later, he said.

Khartoum this week signed a wealth-sharing deal with rebels from the oil-rich south of the country who have been fighting the government for two decades.

Sudan’s foreign minister said on Saturday the type of deal under negotiation with the southern rebels could not be repeated in the west because it contained the right to self determination, which he said could not be negotiated with the western rebels.

A senior U.S. official had said a speedy deal between Khartoum and the southern rebels could help solve the conflict in the west.