Mediators urge Darfur rebels to hold direct talks in December

November 14, 2007 (KHARTOUM, Sudan) — Envoys from the United Nations and the African Union urged Darfur’s rebel groups on Wednesday to reach a common ground in hope of having direct talks with the Sudanese government next month in Libya.

The highly anticipated U.N. and African Union-brokered talks to try to end the Darfur conflict opened late last month in the Libyan coastal town of Sirte without the most prominent rebel leaders.

As a result, the negotiations between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels were postponed until December to try to get some of the unwilling rebel chiefs to join the talks.

“We will hope that the movements now will increase their work and crystallize their positions to prepare themselves for the talks. We know this is a difficult process, but we hope they realize that there are great expectations from the people of Darfur and Sudan and also from the international community for them to agree soon to a common negotiation team and negotiation issues,” Jan Eliasson, the U.N. chief mediator, told reporters after arriving in Khartoum from Eritrea with AU envoy, Salim Ahmed Salim.

Salem also confirmed that the talks would remain Sirte, despite speculation that they could be moved to another city.

“The origin of the talks was Sirte, and the ending of the talks will be Sirte,” Salim said.

Darfur’s main rebel chiefs said they were boycotting the talks because the U.N. and AU mediators had invited lesser groups to attend, claiming these groups were government stooges set up to weaken the rebellion’s positions.

The mediators say they invited all rebel groups so that talks were as inclusive possible to try to end more than four years of fighting that have killed more than 200,000 people and chased 2.5 million from their homes.

(AP)