Libya says all rebel groups must attend Darfur talks

October 10, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A visiting Libyan minister on Wednesday warned against the absence of any rebel group in the western Sudanese region of Darfur from the upcoming peace negotiations.

“Any armed faction not to be present in the negotiations will be held responsible for the continuous suffering of the Darfur people,” Libyan Minister for African Affairs Ali Abdel Salam Triki told reporters.

“There is an international consensus that the next negotiations will be the last chance to solve the Darfur problem,” the Libyan minister noted, urging all the Darfur factions to respond to the calls for an immediate stop of fighting.

Triki made the remarks while arriving in Khartoum on an official visit, which, he said, was aimed at doing more preparations for the upcoming peace negotiations in Libya on Oct. 27 between the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebel groups.

Mustafa Osman Ismail, the Sudanese presidential adviser who was receiving the Libyan minister at the Khartoum Airport, reiterated his government’s keenness to achieve success in the upcoming negotiations in order to end the suffering of the Darfur people.

Triki’s visit in Sudan comes coincident with a visit of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Darfur, Jan Eliasson, in the African country.

It is expected that Triki and Eliasson will hold a meeting in Khartoum to coordinate their preparation works for the upcoming Darfur peace talks.

(Xinhua)