‘Consultations’ resume at talks on Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region

ABUJA, Nov 8 (AFP) — African Union mediators resumed separate consultations Monday with rebels of Sudan’s western Darfur region and Sudanese government representatives, several sources said.

“Consultations are continuing on the questions of security and the political declaration of principle. Mediators are meeting separately with the two sides,” a mediator told AFP by telephone.

An international observer to the talks confirmed the report and said a plenary session was possible by the end of the day.

Mediators have been trying for several days to break a deadlock over the thorny question of security. In the latest setback, the Khartoum government refused to join the rebels in signing a security protocol which includes a clause to create a “no-fly zone” over Darfur.

By the weekend, the AU team had hoped to have signatures on the security protocol, a parallel deal to ensure the protection of Darfur’s 1.5 million displaced civilians and a broad declaration of political principles.

But chief mediator Ahmad Allam-Mi of Chad said three or four more days of consultations would probably be necessary in this second round of peace talks that began October 21.

African leaders have invested a lot of hope and energy in promoting the Abuja conference as a way for the continent to halt the bloody 20-month-old war in western Sudan, before the UN Security Council weighs into the conflict on November 18.

The top UN body is due to hold a special meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, travelling to Africa to show its determination to see an end to fighting between rebel forces and Khartoum.

Since the rebellion broke out in February last year pitting African rebels against Arab militias backed by the Khartoum government, more than 70,000 people have diedin combat or from hunger and disease in the area’s huge refugee camps.

Some 200,000 have fled into neighbouring Chad as a result of the conflict, which the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Mass rape and other abuses have become widespread.

Western officials and aid agencies have largely blamed the pro-government Arab Janjaweed militia and government forces for the worst atrocities, and the UN Security Council has passed two resolutions calling on Khartoum to disarm the militia or face sanctions.

The AU has deployed Rwandan and Nigerian troops to the region to protect the displaced people and monitor a ceasefire. The force will eventually total more than 3,000.