African Union tries to break Darfur talks deadlock

ABUJA, Nov 6 (Reuters) – The Sudan government and Darfur rebels remained deadlocked at peace talks on Saturday, and African Union mediators were meeting both sides separately to try to end a row over security issues.

The talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja are aimed at ending what the United Nations has dubbed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. More than 1.5 million people have fled their homes to escape violence that the United States calls genocide.

Khartoum refused on Friday to sign a security document proposed by AU mediators, saying it was too biased in favour of the rebels.

The rebels say they will not negotiate any further until the government agrees to and signs the security proposal.

“We have to sign these documents and move on, but the government are not ready to do this,” said Sharif Harir, a top negotiator for the Sudan Liberation Movement, a rebel group, before entering a meeting with mediators.

The document, which mediators have called the “best possible compromise”, asks Khartoum to accept a military no-fly zone over Darfur and to disarm its militia allies, including the Arab Janjaweed militia.

The mediators have been pushing Khartoum to sign the document, helped by pressure from western governments.

The government says the proposal is unfair because it does not ask the rebels to move their forces into barracks. It has asked the mediators to move the discussion forward to political issues, including wealth and power sharing.

Direct talks between the government and rebels broke down in September when they could not find an acceptable compromise on security issues.

The United Nations has said 70,000 people have died from disease and malnutrition since March, a figure disputed by Khartoum. There are no reliable figures for how many people have died as a direct result of the fighting.

The U.N. special envoy for Darfur, Jan Pronk, said earlier this week that Darfur was sliding back into chaos.

The 22-month-old conflict began last year after years of low intensity fighting between Arab nomads and mainly African farmers in the vast desert region.

Rebels say Khartoum has been dominated for more than 50 years by an Arab clique which has subjugated the country’s black African people.

Khartoum denies it backs the Janjaweed, calling them bandits, and has asked the mediators to define the meaning of Janjaweed in the security proposal.