Dispute over talks hits Darfur peace process

Published on Sunday 7 October 2007 01:54

DARFUR rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim said yesterday he would not attend peace talks in Libya this month if more than two rival rebel groups are invited, casting further doubts over the peace process.

Ibrahim, head of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), said: "The AU and UN mediation until now has failed to detail very precisely who will be invited to the peace talks."

He added that only one delegation from JEM and one from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) should attend.

"If the mediation fails to take this decision by October 27 then JEM is not attending the peace talks," he said. "We don't want to start with chaos." Previous peace talks were marred by rebel divisions.

Only one of three negotiating insurgent factions signed the 2006 peace deal, which has seen little implementation as violence has spiralled. Since then, the rebels have split into more than 10 rival groups.

Ibrahim said the SLM had to "reform itself and make one delegation and one position".

Some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003.

The SLM founder and chairman, Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, has said he will not attend talks until a UN force is deployed to stem the violence in Darfur and pro-government militias are disarmed.