US: The United States sent its number two state department official to the Darfur peace talks in Nigeria yesterday in a last-minute bid to help African Union mediators get the warring sides to reach a peace deal.
Deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick, who has been the leading Bush administration official on Sudan, would help AU mediators "close the gaps" at peace talks in the Nigerian capital, said state department spokesman Sean McCormack.
The announcement came after tens of thousands of people held "Save Darfur" rallies across the US on Sunday, calling for an end to atrocities in Darfur and for more US involvement in resolving the crisis.
A Sunday deadline set by the AU for Darfur rebel groups and Sudan's government to reach a deal was extended overnight by 48 hours, and the US government hoped a major push by Mr Zoellick would break the deadlock.
Chances of a breakthrough appeared slim when Sudanese vice-president Ali Osman Mohamed Taha left Abuja yesterday. A diplomat said Mr Taha believed the rebel leaders did not want substantive talks.
Mr McCormack urged Sudan's government to send a senior representative back to Abuja, adding that while some progress had been made, key issues still had to be resolved.
"The United States urges the Darfur rebel movements to focus on the few key issues that stand in the way of reaching a settlement. All parties should make a concentrated effort to seize this opportunity for peace."
In Abuja, Mr Zoellick will meet Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo as well as the commanders of the AU mission in Sudan to discuss the deteriorating security situation in Darfur.
About 7,000 African troops are battling to keep the peace in Darfur, an area about the size of France. The United States and many of its allies would like UN peacekeepers to augment the African force, but Khartoum has so far rejected this offer.
The rebels, who have major objections on issues related to security, power-sharing and wealth-sharing in the peace deal, took up arms in early 2003 in ethnically-mixed Darfur over what they saw as neglect by the Arab-dominated central government.
Khartoum used militias to crush the rebellion, killing tens of thousands of people in the fighting. A campaign of arson, looting and rape has driven more than two million into refugee camps in Darfur and neighbouring Chad. - (Reuters)