Sudanese Government and Darfur rebel groups discuss security at peace talks

The Sudanese Government and Darfur's two rebel groups have begun discussing security issues, the second of four key items on the agenda of the current round of peace talks being held in Abuja, Nigeria in a bid to end the conflict that has led to a massive humanitarian crisis.

The negotiations on security issues remain at the preliminary stage, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters at UN Headquarters today, with mediators from the African Union (AU) inviting the parties to submit written proposals on the substantive issues.

Yesterday Khartoum and the two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), reached agreement on a draft protocol to alleviate the dire humanitarian situation.

But Ms. Okabe said the protocol has not yet been signed because SLA and JEM have insisted they want to discuss security issues first. After that, the talks are expected to move on to political issues, and then social and economic matters.

More than 1.2 million people are internally displaced and another 200,000 live as refugees in neighbouring Chad because of fighting between the rebel groups and Sudanese Government forces as well as brutal attacks by Khartoum-allied militias against civilians.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that a staff team in West Darfur has confirmed that more than 500 families from three villages remain afraid to venture far from their homes because of continuing militia attacks.

UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told reporters in Geneva, where the agency is based, that the notorious Janjaweed militias continue to prey on the residents of Saleah, Kondebe and Sirba when they leave their villages.

The residents, who include people who have returned to their home villages after fleeing to Chad, say there are still murders, rapes and assaults, as well as theft of livestock.