Sudan: AU negotiators are confident of reaching a Darfur peace deal, but observers say they have seen it all before, writes Rob Crilly in Nairobi.
Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted man, has waded into the Darfur crisis, calling on Muslims to join the conflict in Sudan's western region.
In an audiotape broadcast yesterday on the Arabic news channel al-Jazeera, the al-Qaeda figurehead urged his followers to prepare for a sustained war in the country that sheltered him during the 1990s.
"I call upon the mujahideen and their supporters in Sudan and its surroundings - including the Arabian Peninsula - to prepare to lead a prolonged war against the crusader robbers in western Sudan," he said.
Bin Laden also called the UN an "infidel" body used to implement "crusader-Zionist" schemes against Muslims. "It is an infidel body and whoever accepts its resolutions becomes an infidel. It is a tool to implement crusader-Zionist resolutions, among which are the resolutions of war against us and those to divide and occupy our land," he said.
This was his first reference to the conflict in Darfur, where the Sudanese government and its Janjaweed allies are fighting rebels who want greater autonomy, and it signals his anger that the international community is intervening in an Islamic country.
His comments came in the wake of fresh violence in Darfur that has forced 200,000 people to flee their homes so far this year and prevented aid agencies reaching the displaced.
This week attention will shift to peace talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, and to New York, where the UN Security Council is considering sanctions against individuals blamed for orchestrating the violence.
However, the diplomatic efforts come at a time when weeks of fighting in the Jebel Mara region and around the town of Gereida have forced people from their villages and closed off swaths of Darfur to humanitarian agencies.
Paul Smith-Lomas, Oxfam regional director, said: "In the last four months, approximately 40,000 people have fled their villages seeking refuge in Gereida. Thousands more continue to arrive, scared and in desperate need of help."
Three years of fighting between rebels and Khartoum-backed militias in Sudan have left up to 300,000 people dead and 2.4 million displaced, according to international estimates.
The African Union has deployed 7,000 troops in Darfur, but they lack adequate logistical support. Last month the AU agreed to transfer peacekeeping duties to a UN force over the objections of some of its members, including Sudan.
The arrival of UN troops cannot come soon enough for the charities, whose trucks have been looted by militiamen and whose workers face the constant threat of violence.
Last week the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that much of the region had become inaccessible to aid workers as fighting reached levels not seen for two years.
John O'Shea, chief executive of Goal, said the charity would have to consider withdrawing from Darfur altogether if the insecurity worsened. "I see it as a slow Rwanda. No one is prepared to take the necessary action," he said. "We knew that the AU troops couldn't do the job, but so far there has been nothing but talk - the UN is preparing for this or that, but nothing is being done yet."
Peter Takirambudde, Africa director for Human Rights Watch, spelled out the benefits of replacing African soldiers with UN troops. "A UN mission could help to stop the atrocious attacks on civilians in Darfur, but only if it's given the means to act aggressively," he said. "It needs a tough mandate, real resources and political support. The Security Council must authorise it to use 'all necessary means' to protect civilians."
However, analysts point out that the UN will not send in peacekeepers until there is a peace to keep. That means government and rebel representatives must reach an agreement at talks which continue this week in Abuja.
African Union negotiators are confident of achieving a deal by the April 30th deadline. Salim Ahmed Salim told the UN Security Council last week: "We are in the final stretch of concluding the Darfur peace agreement. The mediation is ready and we believe the time is right for the parties to move beyond arguments to decisions."
However, seasoned Darfur watchers say we have been here before. So far the talks have gone through seven rounds over two years without a breakthrough.
Both sides have good reason for dragging their feet over a deal, said one Sudan expert based in Nairobi.
"The rebels are rather enjoying staying in hotels for weeks and weeks on end during the peace talks and the government knows that the UN forces will not enter the country until a deal is agreed, so there really is little incentive for either side to reach a peace deal," she said.