Sudan is withdrawing its forces from recently occupied positions in the bloodied Darfur region, heeding an African Union demand for a pullback in an effort to restart stalled peace talks, a Union official said Saturday. Union spokesman Assane Ba said Sudan acceded to calls from Union mediators to yield territory taken this week. Ba said the Union expects rebels to halt attacks on government forces, which should withdraw to positions they held before Nov. 9.
Rebels could not be immediately reached for comment Saturday, but the insurgents boycotted talks this week after alleging the government had launched a fresh offensive. The rebels said they would not meet government negotiators until the attacks ceased. Ba said he hoped the government's pullback, documented by Union cease-fire monitors in Darfur, would break the boycott. He spoke in a telephone interview from Abuja, Nigeria's capital, where the talks were being held. |