Darfur rebel leader is criticised over peace talks snub

Darfur's most influential rebel leader was accused of "holding the peace process hostage" after he stayed away from a crucial meeting of the troubled Sudanese region's fragmented rebel groups.

More than 40 rebels representing at least a dozen factions were due to attend three days of scheduled talks in this Tanzanian resort town. But the logistical difficulty of bringing leaders from 16 locations, including 10 in Darfur, delayed the start. "It has been like herding cats," said one UN official.

The meeting in Arusha is an attempt to launch a fresh peace process, more than a year after the Darfur Peace Agreement was rejected by two of the three main rebel groups. "We are approaching a moment of truth in Darfur," said Jan Eliasson, the UN's special envoy for Darfur.

Diplomats hope this weekend's talks will pave the way for full negotiations between the rebels and Khartoum, which mediators hope will take place as early as next month.

The UN Security Council this week agreed to deploy 19,500 troops and 6,500 police officers to Darfur to protect civilians. But Mr Eliasson said peacekeeping and humanitarian aid would be simply "putting a band aid over infected wounds".

Even before the meeting began, it was overshadowed by who wasn't attending rather than who was. Among the absentees is Abdul Wahed al-Nur, a founder of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), which began the insurgency against the Khartoum government in 2003. Mr Nur has since spent little time in Darfur, preferring to live in Paris. Despite this he remains immensely popular in the camps that are home to more than two million displaced people.

UN officials and Western diplomats believe it is impossible to sell an agreement to Darfur's displaced that Mr Nur has not backed. But publicly, negotiators were putting on a stern face. "This process will not be held hostage by anyone," said Salim Ahmed Salim, the African Union's special envoy, "because what is at stake is the future of the people of Darfur."

Ahmed Hussein Adam, a spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement, one of the main groups, said the rebels were willing to work together. "We want to seize this opportunity," he said. "This can be the first step towards a meaningful, constructive and comprehensive political process."

Since the Sudanese government and one faction of the SLA signed the Darfur Peace Agreement in May last year, violence in the region has exploded, and the number of rebel groups has grown to at least 15.

Those attending the Arusha talks are not expected to unite, merely agree a common position. That should not be too hard. Mr Eliasson said the groups' different aims are "strikingly similar", suggesting that the real differences were based on personality.

Finding a unifying figure will not be easy. Mr Nur's position has put him at odds with many of his former colleagues. Ahmed Diraige, a former governor of Darfur, has also been touted as a potential leader by Western diplomats but it is unclear if he would have the support of other groups. "There is no 'John Garang' figure," said one senior international official, referring to the commander of the rebel forces in southern Sudan during the 21-year civil war, who remained as the negotiation figurehead despite splits within the rebel ranks.