African Union mediators try to coax Darfur rebels back to peace talks

ABUJA, Dec 15 (AFP) — African Union mediators on Wednesday held closed-door talks with representatives of two Sudanese rebel movements to try to coax them back to AU-brokered peace talks for the vast country’s western Darfur region.

Sudan Liberation Army rebels gather for a meeting with AU ceasefire monitors at Gellab, a village in the desert east of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state on November 8, 2004. (Reuters).

The rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on Monday walked out of talks here to resolve the Darfur conflict with the Sudanese government, accusing Khartoum of repeated ceasefire violations.

The SLM also accused Khartoum of planning a huge offensive against rebels in Darfur, a member of the mediating team has said.

Neither the rebels nor the AU mediators commented to the press early Wednesday before going into the talks, which are the second attempt in as many days to get the rebels back to the negotiating table with Khartoum.

After meeting with AU mediators on Tuesday, SLM spokesman Bahar Ibrahim said the rebel boycott of the talks was still in effect.

“There are no new developments. Nothing has changed on the ground to make us resume discussions. The government offensive has not been halted,” he said.

The AU-brokered talks in Abuja are aimed at bringing to an end the conflict that has raged in Darfur since February 2003, when rebels drawn from the mainly black African population of the region rose up against Khartoum, accusing the Arab government of marginalising their region.

At least 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict and around 1.6 million forced from their homes, resulting in what the United Nations has called the worst humanitarian crisis in the world at present.