Khartoum says begins Darfur peace talks-SUNA

KHARTOUM, April 1 (Reuters) – The Sudanese government has begun peace talks in Chad with mediators trying to end more than one year of fighting between Khartoum and western rebels, the official SUNA news agency said on Thursday.

The government on Tuesday boycotted the opening session of the talks with the rebels from Sudan’s Darfur area, where the United Nations says fighting has displaced 600,000 to 700,000 people, in protest at the presence of international observers.

The government delegation had yet to meet the rebels, SUNA quoted state minister for foreign affairs Altijani Saleh Fidail as saying. The European Union and United States, would not observe the talks, he said. The talks were a U.S.-EU initiative.

“(Fidail) announced the return of the government delegation to negotiations after agreement was achieved regarding the government’s vision for the process of negotiation,” SUNA said.

“The parties are meeting separately with the mediators and if progress is achieved that could then lead to face-to-face talks,” SUNA quoted Fidail as saying.

He said Chad and the African Union would mediate the talks to end the fighting, which the United Nations says has driven more than 100,000 refugees across the border into Chad.

The Darfur rebels had made the presence of international observers a condition for any peace talks. They could not immediately be reached for comment.

The rebels, who launched the uprising in February 2003, accuse Khartoum of neglecting Darfur and backing Arab militias which burn and loot African villages. Khartoum says both the Arab militias and the rebels are outlaws.

Fidail said the peace talks schedule and agenda would be set after the mediators have listened to both sides.

Khartoum is also involved in peace talks in Kenya with a separate group of southern rebels to end more than two decades of war in the south of the oil-producing country.