Geneva talks on Darfur called off

GENEVA, Feb 11 (AFP) — An attempt to bring together members of rebel groups from western Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region and the Sudanese government for talks this weekend has been called off, the organisers said Wednesday.

The meeting, organised by the Swiss-based Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva had been expected to focus on Darfur’s humanitarian needs, rather than aim for mediation in the one year-old conflict.

But Sudan’s government eventually refused to take part in the talks with rebels on February 14 and 15, and on Monday called for a conference inside Sudan.

“We can confirm that talks are not taking place this weekend,” Andy Andrea, a spokesman for the Dunant centre said.

“The government has declined the invitation, we remain in contact with all sides and we’ll be looking at the next steps forward,” he told AFP.

Three groups — the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SFDA) — had said they would attend the Geneva meeting.

Shortly after the meeting was announced, Sudan’s president Omar al-Beshir promised to allow aid workers access to Darfur, where government forces and militias have been fighting local rebels since February 2003.

More than 110,000 refugees from the region have fled across the border into Chad from Darfur, while another 700,000 Sudanese are believed to be displaced in the largely arid region and short of food, water and shelter, according to the United Nations.

Beshir said Monday that the Darfur rebellion had been crushed, but a spokesman for a rebel group insisted his fighters remained in position.

The Sudanese president also announced a general amnesty for rebels who gave up and handed over their weapons within a month.