The Sudanese government said on Friday that peace negotiations will be meaningless if ceasefire violations persist in crisis-torn Darfur, just hours before talks were to resume in Nigeria.
“The recent violations by the holders of arms will cast shadows on the negotiations,” Cabinet minister and government peace delegate Abdallah Safi al-Nur was quoted as saying by the Akhbar Al Youm daily.
“What has been agreed upon is of no value and discussions on solving the political question are meaningless as long as the armed movements remain uncommitted to the ceasefire agreement,” Nur was reported to have said.
Khartoum government officials were due to start talks on Friday evening with armed opposition groups, the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement, following two previous rounds of talks.
Nur accused rebels of “fluctuating” between moderation and extremism “as a tactical manoeuvre” but said he is optimistic that an agreement will be reached.
Informed sources said the delegation, led by Agriculture Minister Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmed, will discuss political, economic and social issues related to a settlement in Abuja.
The talks are aimed at resolving a conflict that is estimated to have killed 70Â 000 people and driven more than a million from their homes since rebels rose up against the government in February 2003.
On Thursday, the United Nations said that its envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, feared the talks are “headed for failure if the parties do not show restraint” and accused the government of breaching a ceasefire.
For his part, Nur bitterly criticised the “bias” of some countries and “negative messages” from the United States Congress calling for new sanctions against Khartoum, which he said “is working positively on the three tracks of peace”.
Already in Abuja, Darfur’s rebel leaders held preliminary talks with African Union mediators in Abuja ahead of the latest round of peace negotiations. — Sapa-AFP
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