Darfur rebels agree to hold unity talks

By Alaa Shahine

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Several Darfur rebel commanders have agreed in principle to hold talks in southern Sudan to unify their positions ahead of possible peace talks with the government, a group of independent mediators said.

Efforts to unify the positions of the many Darfur rebel groups have gathered pace but the fragmentations and divisions among those groups, along with government forces' attacks against them, have derailed the prospects of unity talks.

The latest initiative was brought by the semi-autonomous government of southern Sudan, which said a rebel unity conference could be held in the south by July.

Another group, the Committee for Uniting the National Front, made up of former senior politicians in Khartoum, said it was coordinating with the southern government and contacting rebel commanders to make sure they attend the proposed meeting.

"We spoke with seven rebel field commanders until now and they agreed in principle to attend the talks," Osman Abdullah, a former minister of defence and the spokesman of the group, told Reuters late on Tuesday.

He said the rebels preferred to hold the talks in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, because they feared being arrested by the government if the talks were held in Khartoum.

Khartoum has welcomed the possibility of peace talks once the rebels are united.

The African Union and U.N. officials have stressed the importance of reaching a political solution to the crisis in Darfur, especially with the Sudanese government rejecting the deployment of a large U.N. force in the vast region.