Libyan envoy asked to rescue Darfur peace talks: diplomat

ABUJA, Dec 19 (AFP) — A high-level Libyan envoy has been asked by the African Union to persuade government and rebel delegates to resume their dialogue at stalled Darfur peace talks, an African diplomat said Sunday.

The diplomat, who asked not to be identified, said that senior Libyan official Ali Treki had met with AU chairman President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and would now meet the Sudanese province’s warring parties.

AU spokesman Assane Ba would not confirm the identity or nationality of the the envoy, but confirmed to reporters that an “African country” had been asked to help get the talks back on track by mediating between the parties.

The Abuja conference has this week suffered a double blow which has left the peace process in turmoil and the negotiations in deadlock.

First, on Tuesday, the main Darfur rebel groups — the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudanese Liberation Movement — suspended their participation in protest at a renewed government push on their positions.

Then, on Saturday, Khartoum ignored an African Union demand that it call off the offensive, and instead engaged in a fresh battle in the town of Labado.

On Sunday, hopes of a renewed ceasefire were raised when Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said that henceforth loyalist forces would respect the ceasefire deal they signed with the rebels in April.

But Ba said that AU monitors on the ground had seen fresh fighting and that an AU helicopter had been fired upon. “This shows that the ceasefire is not being observed. They did not comply,” he said.