SUDAN - Dec 13 - Darfur Rebels Boycott Peace Talks.

Darfur rebels announce a boycott of peace talks, alleging the government has begun an offensive and saying a return to the negotiating table isn't possible until the attacks cease. Sudan Liberation Army's Bahar Ibrahim said: The government is currently launching an offensive in all regions of Darfur. We are suspending the talks until the situation improves and there is a clear commitment that the Sudan government will stop the offensive". Ibrahim told reporters that he was speaking for both insurgent groups at the latest round of African Union-sponsored peace talks, held in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. The fourth round of Darfur peace talks, which officially got under way, saw the first face-to-face working meeting earlier Dec 13 between Sudan government and Darfur rebel negotiators. Tens of thousands have died and nearly 2mn driven from their home during the nearly two-year fight, which has sparked what the UN calls the worst humanitarian crisis anywhere. AU officials said they were confident talks could continue as planned. Government representatives weren't immediately available for comment. Thirteen violations of a cease-fire agreement were confirmed in September and 54 were documented between October and mid-December, said Assane Ba, a spokesman for the African Union, which is mediating the talks. Ba said: This is poisoning the atmosphere and we can't have meaningful negotiations in this situation". Mediators confronted the warring parties with their cease-fire report, but only the government side responded before the meeting adjourned after a power outage plunged the hall into darkness, Ba said of the closed-door conference. Government negotiators had acknowledged a role in the skirmishes, saying they were only trying to clear Darfur's roads for humanitarian aid shipments, Ba said. Previous peace negotiations have failed to stop nearly two years of fighting. AU officials said attacks continued last week. Representatives from Darfur's two main rebel groups and Sudan's government are attending the talks, which are expected to focus on reviewing past interim agreements, with power- and wealth-sharing and disarmament among the final goals for peace. Two newer, smaller insurgent groups aren't represented at the talks in Nigeria, a regional economic and military powerhouse that is the current head of the 52-nation African Union. Earlier talks produced a Nov 9 accord on humanitarian access to the estimated 1.8mn war-displaced in Darfur and in neighboring Chad, bringing new pledges of an end to hostilities - promises that we re immediately violated. Disease and famine have killed 70,000 in Darfur since March, the WHO says. There is no official reckoning of the overall toll of the war, which was sparked in February 2003 when two non-Arab African rebel groups took up arms to fight for more power and resources. The Sudanese government responded by backing an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, which is accused of targeting civilians in a campaign of murder, rape and arson. The US has accused Sudan's government of failing to take sufficient steps to rein in the Janjaweed militia, who are alleged to have committed genocide in Darfur. Additionally, a promised 3,000-member AU peace deployment for Darfur has so far managed to put only about 800 soldiers and 100 observers in the field. The UN calls the situation in Darfur the world's gravest humanitarian crisis.