Sudan: Government, Darfur rebel groups agree to protocol on humanitarian situation

The Sudanese Government and Darfur’s two rebel groups have reached agreement on a draft protocol to alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in the war-torn region.

The draft protocol was prepared by African Union (AU) mediators with the assistance of United Nations officials and others participating in the talks in Abuja, Nigeria, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters today at UN Headquarters in New York.

The Abuja peace talks between Khartoum and the two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), will now focus on security issues, Mr. Dujarric said. The parties will then discuss political issues and social and economic matters.

The AU has sponsored the Abuja talks in a bid to end the fighting and humanitarian suffering engulfing Darfur, a remote region in Sudan's west, since early last year. At least 1.2 million people are internally displaced and another 200,000 are refugees in neighbouring Chad because of the violence, particularly the often deadly and brutal attacks by militias against civilians.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) said yesterday it has taken delivery of eight all-terrain trucks to help it distribute aid around Sudan, where many roads have become virtually impassable because of recent heavy rains.

The airlift of the eight trucks to Sudan was paid for by the United States Agency for International Development.