Darfur ceasefire announcement expected
Sudan will announce a ceasefire at the start of peace talks with rebels on Saturday aimed at ending the four and a half year conflict in Darfur, Sudan's UN ambassador said.
Ambassador Abdelmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed said the government decided to declare a ceasefire at the opening session to help promote the success of the talks, which will take place in the Libyan city of Sirte, the hometown of the country's leader, Moammar Gadhafi.
"On that day … we will declare a ceasefire so that we can give the negotiators a chance to get out with an agreement on cessation of hostilities and ceasefire in the first round of the talks," he said in an interview.
"So this will be a good confidence building measure when all parties agree to a ceasefire, which we are going to announce on the 27th."
Earlier this month, the UN special envoy to Darfur, Jan Eliasson, called on the Sudanese government and rebel factions to begin the peace talks with a ceasefire agreement and urged both sides to make concessions during the negotiations.
