Darfur talks to resume in Abuja next month

DAR ES SALAAM, Nov 20, 2004 (Xinhua) — The Sudan government and Darfur rebel groups will resume their peace talks in Nigeria’s capital Abuja next month, AFrican Union (AU) Chairman Olusegun Obasanjo, who is also president of Nigeria, said here Saturday.

The talks will resume on Dec 9, one month after both sides signed two protocols on security and humanitarian aid, Obasanjo told a press conference after the first summit of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region.

On their agreed peace talks agenda are the political and economic issues, according to the AU chairman.

The Abuja talks are yet another effort by the AU to solve African problems by Africans. The 53-member bloc has made headway into resolving the Darfur conflict since a summit in Ethiopia in July.

Clashes in Darfur flared up in February 2003, and has so far caused thousands of deaths and sent about one million fleeing to neighboring Chad or internally displaced.