Darfur talks set ambitious peace agenda amid fighting.

By Camillus Eboh

ABUJA, Dec 11 (Reuters) – The African Union set an ambitious agenda for a political solution to the two-year-old Darfur conflict at the opening of peace talks in Nigeria, but says continued fighting is poisoning the atmosphere.

A girl rests against a flimsy shack at Abushouk camp near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, October 31, 2004. (Reuters).

Earlier agreements between the Sudanese government and rebels on aid and disarmament have been violated by both sides, leading the United Nations to say that Darfur, with its 1.6 million refugees, was sliding into anarchy.

“The attacks and counter attacks … have succeeded in poisoning the atmosphere of peace and this is clearly unacceptable to us,” said the African Union chairman of the meeting, Sam Ibok, at the opening on Saturday in the Nigerian capital.

He set a December 22 deadline for the two sides to conclude talks on a declaration of principles including power sharing, wealth sharing, security, demobilisation and reintegration.

The African Union has accused both sides of violating ceasefire agreements in recent weeks, but rebels said they were only responding to government attacks and threatened to walk out of the talks unless they stopped.

“If the violations continue we will review our participation in these talks,” said Ahmed Tugod, a spokesman for the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, at a news conference held jointly with the other rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Army.

He demanded the government withdraw from rebel-held areas of Darfur he said it had occupied since the agreements were signed last month.

A government spokesman said its forces would not withdraw because they had a responsibility to keep roads open for humanitarian aid.

The rebels took up arms against the government in early 2003 in protest at what they said was Khartoum’s marginalisation of the western region.

About 1.6 million Darfuris have fled their homes since February 2003 for fear of attack by Arab militiamen who were mobilised by the government as auxiliaries in a campaign to crush the rebellion.

But Khartoum says the attacks are carried out by outlaws and denies responsibility for their actions.

The United States, which has failed to get sanctions imposed on the government, has called the campaign genocide.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this week Darfur was plagued by banditry, rape and village burnings with 2.3 million people in desperate need of aid.

The 53-member African Union has deployed 900 ceasefire monitors to Darfur, a region the size of France, and expects to reach the full complement of 3,300 troops by the end of the year.