Fighting ongoing in Darfur as Sudan ignores ultimatum: African Union

ABUJA, Dec 18 (AFP) — Sudanese government forces on Saturday engaged in a fresh battle with rebel forces in southern Darfur, ignoring an ultimatum from the African Union to halt an offensive, an AU spokesman said.

Spokesman Assane Ba said that the AU chairman, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, and the chairman of the AU commission Alpha Oumar Konare would be informed of the fighting and would take a decision on the future of peace talks.

He said that international observers at the stalled Abuja peace conference on Darfur had been told by the commander of the AU observer force in the region, General Festus Okonkwo, that fighting was continuing.

“General Okonkwo informed us that there is some fighting going on around Labado (in southern Darfur) which means that the government did not comply with the ultimatum to withdraw its troops from Labado,” he told reporters.

“General Okonkwo said he has spoken with his mission on the ground and said that up until now helicopters are firing on Labado,” he added. This information was correct 1730 GMT, half-an-hour after the deadline, he said.

“It’s not up to us at our level here to take a decision. We will inform the leadership of the AU, the chairman and the chairman of the AU commission of what is going on,” he said.

Ba said that AU meditors would meet on Sunday to discuss the situation with the delegates to the Abuja talks, but AU diplomats had earlier signalled that if Khartoum refused to withdraw its forces then the talks would be suspended.

Rebel negotiators have since Tuesday been insisting that they will not sit down with the government while its two-week-old offensive, which was launched in defiance of an April ceasefire deal, continues.