Darfur Rebel Factions Gather for Talks

Darfur rebel factions began arriving in Tanzania on Friday.

Darfur rebel factions began arriving in Tanzania on Friday for African Union-United Nations sponsored negotiations aimed at reconciling their differences ahead of peace talks with the Sudanese government.

The talks to end the four-year conflict in western Sudan have taken on a new importance since the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday approved the deployment of 26,000 peacekeeping troops and police to stem the bloodshed in Darfur.

Darfur rebels split into about a dozen groups are meeting to work out a single negotiating position for peace talks with the government, and a date and venue for them.

Members of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) arrived in the Tanzanian resort town of Arusha on Friday, as did some negotiators with factions of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).

"I think there is no doubt that all the groups want negotiations," AU Darfur envoy Salim Ahmed Salim told reporters. "The only problem arises that sometimes some of them have their own pre-conditions ... if everyone wants to start putting pre-conditions you'll have no meetings whatsoever."

Salim said no date for the future rebel-government talks was set, but that he expected them within "about two months".

"These are informal consultations that we hope will open the way to the coming consultations and we hope to reach common ground," JEM spokesman Jamali Hassan Jelaladin said.

Underscoring the difficulty of unifying the rebel elements, the African Union in a statement on Thursday accused the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement of trying to intimidate peacekeepers in El Fasher by sending "20 heavily armed elements" to the front gate of the AU mission's forward headquarters.

"That is regrettable and totally unacceptable, especially at this time when the international community has unambiguously demonstrated a firm commitment to restoring peace and security in Darfur," the statement said.

REBEL TO BE FREED?

The conflict in Darfur erupted in early 2003 when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Khartoum government, accusing it of neglect. The government responded by arming mostly Arab militias known as Janjaweed to attack the rebels.

Independent experts say 200,000 people have died as a result of the conflict and 2.5 million have been displaced. Sudan says only 9,000 have been killed.

A May 2006 peace pact with the government was signed by only one rebel faction.

Sudan on Wednesday offered a concession to the rebels, saying it would consider allowing elderly SLA humanitarian aid co-ordinator Suleiman Jamous to leave hospital without threat of arrest once the Arusha talks are underway.

Jamous is widely credited with helping to stop violence against aid workers, and analysts say he offers the best hope of uniting the political and military leadership of the splintered rebel groups, without which there is little chance of success.

U.N. Darfur envoy Jan Eliasson told Reuters both he and the AU's Salim had asked Sudan to free Jamous. Salim said it was not clear whether he would come to Arusha.

Sudan Liberation Movement leader Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, whose blessing analysts say will be needed for any peace initiative to succeed, has already refused to attend the talks.

"It's unfortunate that he's not here. We've tried our level best to impress on him to be here," Salim said. "This process cannot be held back by any one person."