Chadian president to attend African Union’s peace talks on Sudan

NDJAMENA, Aug 22 (AFP) — Chadian President Idriss Deby will head to Nigeria on Monday to attend the African Union-sponsored talks on the conflict in the western Sudanese province of Darfur, his office announced.

It said Deby would stop in Senegal on Sunday before continuing to the Nigerian capital Abuja the following day to attend the peace talks.

The one-day talks — dubbed the “Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks on the Darfur Crisis” in AU conference literature — are to be hosted by Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo, the current chairman of the African Union.

African leaders hope that the talks will kickstart a dialogue between the Sudanese rebels and Khartoum and pave the way for a 2,000-strong AU peacekeeping force to deploy to Darfur to protect ceasefire monitors and aid deliveries.

According to the United Nations, 1.4 million people have been driven from their homes in Darfur since the fighting started in February last year, while between 30,000 and 50,000 have been killed.