Preparations under way for Darfur peace talks in Ethopia

Tuesday July 13th, 2004.

ADDIS ABABA, July 13, 2004 (dpa) -- The Sudan government and the international community were preparing Tuesday to meet Darfur rebel groups in Addis Ababa in African Union-sponsored talks that many are hoping will result in a comprehensive peace deal for western Sudan.

The talks Thursday will look at the political, economic and social issues that triggered the conflict, as well as at immediate measures aimed at implementing a ceasefire agreement inked in April and at alleviating the refugee situation, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

The talks, organised by African Union (AU) chairman Alpha Oumar Konare following a meeting in Chad earlier this month, will be attended by representatives of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the region's two largest black African rebel groups.

Also set to attend are representatives of the AU, the European Union and the United Nations, as well as officials from the governments of Britain, France, Chad and the United States.

Darfur had dominated last week's deliberations of the African Peace and Security Council and the third Summit of the AU, held from July 6 to 8.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in his address to the AU summit on July 6 following a visit to the region described the situation in Darfur as "horrific".

More than one million people have been driven from their homes in western Sudan in recent months following a rebel uprising that was subdued by government-backed "Janjaweed" militias.

The Arab Janjaweed groups have however been blamed for terrorising the civilian population in the region, prompting accusations from the international community that Khartoum is not doing enough to control the militias.

A long history of tensions between Arab and black African communities over land and grazing rights exists in the western Sudan region, which is bigger than France.