Sudan: UN chief confirms rebel Darfur peace talks

(SomaliNet) The United Nations and Khartoum announced on Thursday that Sudan\'s government and rebel groups will start talks on October 27 in Libya to push for peace in violence-torn Darfur before 26 000 peacekeepers deploy there.

The talks, to which some eight rebel groups are expected to be invited, will be mediated by UN and African Union special envoys, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told a news conference after a three-day visit to Sudan.

The choice of Libya as a venue came as a surprise as Tanzania had earlier been seen as the most likely venue. Ban and other UN officials said it reflected Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi\'s role in trying to unify Darfur rebel groups.

A joint UN-Sudanese statement said the United Nations \"expresses the hope that parties will cooperate fully\" with UN and AU mediators Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim, and that Khartoum had pledged to participate \"constructively\".

Ban, who held talks with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and met leaders of Darfur refugees in Sudan, urged all parties to immediately cease fire in their four-year-old conflict in the western Sudanese region and attend the talks.

\"This is going to be a crucially important negotiating forum for a durable peace in Sudan,\" he said.

International experts estimate 200 000 people have died and more than two million have been made homeless in Darfur since an uprising against alleged government neglect of the region flared in 2003. Khartoum puts the death toll at 9 000.

In Washington, the United States welcomed the peace talks and said it was ready to support the effort.

\"We\'re encouraged by the renewed efforts to obtain lasting peace in Sudan,\" said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. \"The UN with Ban Ki Moon\'s leadership and the African Union should be applauded for working to bring all sides to the negotiating table.\"-Reuters