 EL FASHER, Sudan (AP) - Signs of renewed fighting in Darfur are a worrying omen for peace talks, a U.N. special envoy said Friday as he toured the troubled region in an attempt to draw reluctant rebels into negotiations with Sudan's government.
Jan Eliasson is on a four-day trip to Darfur to press key leaders of the splintered rebel factions to unify their positions and join in the peace process that began in October but quickly broke off. He had planned to meet Friday with Khalil Ibrahim, the powerful leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, but U.N. security officers would not allow his helicopter to go to the secret Darfur location where the meeting was to be held.
Security concerns arose over heavy recent fighting just over the border in Chad, some nine miles from the meeting site, and unconfirmed but widely circulated reports that Sudanese planes bombed rebel positions close to the meeting point two days earlier, U.N. officials said. The fighting in Chad forced Sudan to close its borders, the Sudanese foreign ministry said.
Sudan declared a unilateral cease-fire when the now stalled peace negotiations opened in Sirte, Libya, on Oct. 27. Suspicions it could have breached the truce commitment and tribal clashes in Darfur do not bode well for peace efforts, Eliasson said. "I find it disturbing that there is such military action," he told The Associated Press. "Certainly, it doesn't create an atmosphere conducive for talks." |