African Union urges Sudan foes to remain in peace talks
NAIROBI, Aug 28 (AFP) — African Union (AU) commission chairman
Alpha Oumar Konare on Saturday urged the Khartoum government and
Darfur rebels to remain engaged in peace talks, insisting that
dialogue was the only way to end the conflict in the region of
western Sudan.
Alpha Oumar Konare “today appeals to the Sudanese parties
engaged in negotiations … to remain in talks to resolve the
conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan,” said an AU statement sent
to AFP from the pan-African body’s headquarters in Addis Ababa.
The Sudanese rebels earlier walked away from African Union peace
talks in Nigeria to hold a 24-hour boycott in protest at alleged
government attacks on civilians in the war-torn western province of
Darfur.
“Political dialogue is the only option for the Sudanese out of
the current impasse,” Konare said, urging both parties to implement
“in good faith” the ceasefire agreement signed in April in Chad.
But as the two sides squabbled in Abuja over alleged ceasefire
abuses, UN officials in Sudan warned that the conditions were not
yet in place for the refugees to return to their homes and called on
the government to do more.
Ahmed Tugod, a spokesman for the rebel Justice and Equality
Movement, and Shereef Harir, chief negotiator of the Sudan
Liberation Movement, alleged that government forces had attacked the
village of Yassin three days ago and killed 64 civilians.
Khartoum, however, denies knowledge of the alleged raid.
“We regret the withdrawal of our brothers on the other side on
the basis of claims of attack,” said Sudan’s deputy foreign minister
Najeib Abdulwad.
The rebellion in Darfur erupted 18 months ago when minority
tribes took up arms to demand an equal share of national
development, spawning a conflict that has claimed up to 50,000 lives
and displaced another 1.4 million.
United Nations, which is due to discuss Darfur on Monday, has in
the past described the conflict as the world’s worst humanitarian
disaster and urged Khartoum to pacify the region before the end of
August or face possible “measures”.