African Union officials were to launch a final round of peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday to bring an end to slaughter and starvation in the war-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur.
AU mediator Sam Ibok told Agence France Presse that the opening ceremony would be held at around 6pm (5pm GMT) but could not confirm whether all the delegates had arrived.
On Wednesday, chances of the dialogue making rapid progress were dealt an early blow when one of two rebel groups represented at the talks declared it would not take part in negotiations.
Previous sessions of the African Union-sponsored conference have made limited progress, with both sides accusing the other of breaking ceasefire promises.
But AU officials are publicly confident that delegates will indeed make their way back to the negotiating table and that an agreement on power-sharing and the demobilisation of warring militias can finally be worked out, 30 months after fighting broke out.
”We are ready to engage in negotiations. We are all serious. I’m optimistic we can make substantial progress during this round. This is the will of the Sudanese government, the people of Sudan and the international community,” said chief government negotiator Majzub al-Khalifa Ahmed.
Al-Khalifa arrived the hotel venue at the head of a 30-strong government delegation. Members of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement were also in the hotel, but would not comment to reporters.
There was no sign of any members of a second rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), which on Wednesday said its delegates would only come to Nigeria to inform AU officials of a plan to boycott the talks.
”Our position remains the same: we will not attend political negotiations on Thursday with the Sudanese government until we hold our general conference on September 25-27,” said a statement released by the group in Cairo.
The negotiations had initially been scheduled for August 24, but were put off at the request of the SLM, which said it first needed to hold a conference of its members.
Analysts say the delay reflects a rift within the movement with one faction, headed by SLM leader Abdul Wahid Mohammed Nur, in favour of taking part and another, led by secretary general Mani Arko Minawi, wanting a postponement.
The African Union, which hosts the talks and has deployed a peacekeeping force in Darfur, has accused SLM fighters of carrying out a bandit attack on August 25 in which a number of Arab nomads were killed and 3 100 camels stolen.
Fighting broke out in Darfur, an arid western region of Sudan in February 2003 when the two rebel groups rose in revolt against the Khartoum government.
The rebels claim to represent Darfur’s black African majority, which they say is discriminated against by the Arab-led regime. They have demanded greater regional autonomy and a bigger share in Sudan’s revenue from oil exports.
Khartoum’s response to the uprising was brutal. The government stands accused by the United Nations of arming the Janjaweed, an Arab militia which has killed thousands of civilians.
UN officials estimate that more than 300 000 people have been killed and two million driven from their homes and into refugee camps, where they are prey to hunger, starvation and militia violence.
The structure of a deal to return peace to the region has been laid on the table in Abuja: a plan to demobilise the rival militias and enhance regional autonomy similar to the recent agreement which brought to an end a similar but much more protracted conflict in southern Sudan. – AFP
