The Arab League chief said Sunday that the Sudanese government needs more time to end the crisis in its troubled Darfur region, where purportedly state-backed Arab militias are accused of killing thousands of African villagers. Amr Moussa's call, made at an emergency meeting of the 22-member Arab League on the Darfur crisis, came as Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo offered to host peace talks to resolve what has been called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Obasanjo invited the Sudanese government and rebel negotiators to hold talks in Nigeria starting Aug. 23, a spokesman for the African Union said. Previous talks fell apart July 17 after rebels walked out, saying the Sudanese government had ignored existing peace agreements.
The 18-month conflict began when black African factions in Darfur rose up against the Sudanese government, claiming discrimination in the distribution of the large, arid region's scarce resources. Since then, Arab militias have gone on a rampage, destroying villages, killing and raping. As many as 30,000 people have been killed, and 1 million people have been forced to flee their homes. The U.S. Congress and some humanitarian groups have accused Sudan of genocide, and a U.N. resolution has threatened economic and diplomatic action against Sudan if it doesn't act within 30 days to rein in the militias, known as Janjaweed. Sudan denies backing the Janjaweed and was hoping Arab nations at Sunday's gathering will back it against international pressure.
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"The international community should provide a suitably timed framework to the Sudanese government to implement its obligations in accordance with the Security Councilâs resolution," Moussa, the Arab League secretary-general, said in an opening speech. The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution on July 30, which the United States pushed for, giving Sudan 30 days to disarm the Arab Janjaweed militias blamed for the violence or face diplomatic and economic penalties. On Wednesday, the United Nations and Sudan signed a new agreement requiring the Arab-dominated Khartoum government create safe areas in Darfur within 30 days so civilians can search for food and water and work their land without fear of attack. The "Plan of Action for Darfur" would halt all military operations by government forces, militias, and rebel groups in these safe areas, which are likely to be set up in camps where thousands of Sudanese have taken refuge and around towns and villages that still have large populations.
Moussa said Arab countries in north Africa are willing to take part in a peacekeeping force to help calm the situation in Sudanâs remote western region. The African Union plans to dispatch 1,600-1,800 soldiers to Darfur to protect an unarmed 150-member monitoring mission. African Union Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare warned the Arab League of the grave situation in Darfur and accused the Sudanese government of the "mismanagement and marginalization" of Darfurâs indigenous population. But Ismail, the Sudanese foreign minister, said his government "has exerted all its efforts to contain the crisis peacefully." He also accused the rebels of trying to establish an independent state in Darfur. 
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