Sudan rebel group wants trials before peace talks

KHARTOUM, March 9 (Reuters) – A Sudanese rebel group will not take part in talks on peace in Darfur until war crimes suspects in the troubled region are referred to an international court for trial, the group said on Wednesday.

The announcement by one of two main rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), casts further doubt on whether a new round of peace talks will start as planned in the Nigerian capital Abuja later this month.

The African Union, which sponsors the talks, is holding separate meetings with rebels and the government in an attempt to find common ground after several rounds of talks failed last year to produce an effective ceasefire deal.

The rebel group said it wanted to see the process of prosecutions begin before returning to the negotiating table.

“We affirm the movement will not participate in the peace negotiations before the referral of the criminals to the (International Criminal) Court and we think this embodies the wishes of all the people of Darfur,” said their statement, addressed to the president of the U.N. Security Council.

The statement, sent to Reuters, said the movement remained committed to peace talks with the government and to respecting all agreements signed with Khartoum.

A U.N.-appointed commission of inquiry into the fighting in Darfur stopped short of agreeing with a U.S. declaration of genocide there, but gave Secretary-General Kofi Annan a sealed list of 51 people suspected of war crimes.

The council is divided over whether to refer the accused to the International Criminal Court as the commission recommends.

Two main rebel groups took up arms in early 2003 accusing Khartoum of neglect and discrimination again non-Arabs.

The United Nations says the government armed Arab militias known locally as Janjaweed to quash the rebellion. The Janjaweed now stand accused of a widespread campaign of killing, rape, looting and burning in non-Arab villages.

Khartoum admits arming some militias to fight the rebels but denies any links to the Janjaweed, calling them outlaws.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting and almost 2 million have fled their homes to makeshift camps, where thousands die every month from malnutrition and disease.

The other Darfur rebel group at Abuja, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), said it would only go back to talks if the government withdrew from all areas it had occupied since a much violated ceasefire in April last year.