Sudan talks hitch

Talks between Sudan's government and rebels to end one of Africa's longest civil wars hit a snag, Reuter reports from Abuja. Conference sources said a planned meeting in the Nigerian capital between the two sides on Monday, the first day of the talks, did not take place. The Sudan People's Liberation Army, which has split into factions, has been fighting since 1983 against what it sees as domination of the black Christian and animist south by the Arabised Muslim north.