2 Darfur rebel groups shun peace talks

Two major Darfur rebel groups said Friday they plan to boycott upcoming peace talks, a major blow to negotiations the U.N. hoped could reach a new agreement for the Sudanese region torn by years of fighting.

U.N. and African Union mediators said they would press on with the conference, beginning Saturday in Sirte, Libya. But the absence of the Justice and Equality Movement and SLA-Unity groups means that at most only a few minor rebel factions will attend.

The groups jointly decided to boycott because the mediators invited factions with little popular support, according to Mohammed Bahr Hamdeen, a senior Justice and Equality leader.

"The mediation has fallen in the trap prepared by the government by making the negotiations an arena for every Jack, Tom and Harry," said Hamdeen.

The groups called on the U.N. and the AU to come to areas of Darfur under their control to discuss a new format and timing for peace negotiations.

The announcement was a serious blow to potential progress at the peace talks, which are being hosted by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

"Any time a significant movement figure is not present, it's not a plus for the negotiations," said Salim Ahmed Salim, the AU representative at the talks.

Jan Eliasson, the U.N.'s special envoy to Darfur, criticized the boycotting groups for not working to settle the conflict. "I don't see this as a failure for the negotiations, but as a failure for those who have not seized the opportunity to move toward peace," he said.

Eliasson and Salim met Friday with "the rebel movements present in Sirte, the regional partners and the international community ahead of the opening ceremony tomorrow," U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said in New York.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack urged the rebel groups to attend and said the United States was working "to make sure that we have the maximum attendance."

The Sudanese government has said it would attend. The principal SLA faction led by Abdel Wahid Nur had previously announced that it would not attend the talks.

When the peace talks in Libya were announced in September, U.N. and AU officials heralded them as an opportunity to reach a lasting peace agreement for Darfur. But infighting among the rebel factions soon cast doubt on who would attend.

The Justice and Equality Movement claimed Friday that the groups attending Saturday's session were proxies for the Sudanese government.

"The mediators adopted the policy of bringing every single individual and group, and all these groups and individuals were created by the Sudanese government," said Ahmed Tugod Lissan, the movement's chief negotiator.

More than 200,000 people have died since ethnic African rebels in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in 2003, accusing it of decades of discrimination and neglect. Sudan's government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed — a charge it denies.

Rebel groups are also threatening to expand the violence into vital oil areas near Darfur. The Justice and Equality Movement attacked an oil field this week, kidnapping two workers and demanding all foreign oil companies leave because oil sales benefit the Sudanese government.

The other boycotting group, SLA-Unity, is suspected of killing 10 African Union peacekeepers in Darfur last month, the worst attack against the group since the 7,000-strong force deployed to the area.