'Breakthrough' in Sudan talks
Reports: AU troops to garrison rebel fighters
ABUJA, Nigeria -- The Sudanese government has agreed to an African Union proposal to send more AU troops to the Darfur region to garrison rebel fighters, a top government negotiator told reporters.
The apparent breakthrough came at peace talks over the crisis in Darfur being held in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
The talks had earlier been threatened with failure by the rebels' refusal to discuss garrisoning by Sudanese government forces.
Observers told Reuters there could be no deal to end 18 months of fighting unless the rebels agreed to discuss garrisoning their fighters as part of an agreement that would also disarm the pro-government Arab militia, known as Janjaweed.
The rebels accuse Khartoum of arming Janjaweed to loot and burn non-Arab farming communities, an accusation the Sudanese government denies.
The United Nations says the fighting has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis with more than a million people driven from their homes and more than 30,000 people killed.
On Tuesday, the talks host, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, said all sides had agreed to put garrisoning the rebels on the agenda as a precursor to disarmament, only to be contradicted by leaders of both main rebel groups.
The Darfur revolt erupted after years of low-level conflict between Arab nomads and African farmers over scarce resources in the arid western Sudanese region the size of France.
The U.N. Security Council has given Sudan until August 30 to show progress in protecting civilians and disarming militia or face unspecified sanctions.
On Monday, Sudan turned down a wider role for African peacekeepers despite international pressure to end violence by Arab militias against non-Arab villagers.
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, visiting a refugee camp Tuesday, declared that "more needed to be done" to end the Darfur crisis. (Full story)
Speaking at the Abu Shouk refugee camp in northern Darfur, Straw said the camps appeared to be safer but he voiced concern about surrounding areas and villages, which one of his officials described as "bandit country."
