Sudan to announce ceasefire at Darfur talks

October27, 2007 (SIRTE, Libya) — The Sudanese government has decided to announce a ceasefire in the war-torn Darfur region at peace talks opening in the Libyan town of Sirte on Saturday, Khartoum’s minister of state for foreign affairs Al-Sammani al-Wasila al-Sammani told AFP.

“The government has decided to announce to announce a unilateral ceasefire at the opening of the peace talks,” said Wasila, adding that Khartoum was “ready to take all necessary measures to advance the peace process.”

The talks, sponsored by the United Nations and African Union, are aimed at halting four years of violence in which the UN says 200,000 people have been killed, thousands raped, villages burnt and some two million people displaced.

Most rebel groups are boycotting the talks.

(AFP)