AU envoy urges Darfur peace push

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African Union envoy Salim Ahmed Salim is in the Sudanese region of Darfur for talks with tribal leaders to persuade them to end years of conflict.

Most rebel leaders have already agreed on a common negotiating position to take to a planned peace conference with the Sudanese government.

But a key leader, Wahid Mohammad Ahmed al-Nur, has refused to take part.

He says Darfur civilians must be protected from attacks by the Arab Janjaweed rebels and government troops.

The AU envoy, who is in the town of el-Geneina, urged Mr Nur to join the talks in order to establish security.

The last peace agreement in Darfur following talks in 2006 collapsed after only one of the three main rebel leaders signed it.

Talks needed

"We've talked to the movements, we talked to the government but at the end of the day it's important that whatever agreement that eventually comes... must be accepted by the Darfurians," Mr Ahmed Salim told Reuters news agency.

"We share the view that it would be much better to start negotiations when there is security," he said.

And he urged Mr Nur to change his stance, even though he understood his concern over security.

"But what I don't accept is to say unless we have absolute security, it is not worth it because at the end of the day it is the negotiations which will ensure durable security."

At least 200,000 people are believed to have died and more than two million displaced in Darfur since fighting broke out in 2003 between rebels and pro-government militias.

A 26,000-strong UN and African Union peacekeeping force is to be deployed to the region by the end of the year to help the 7,000-strong AU force that has failed to stem the violence in the region.