Sudanese government delegates and Darfur rebels agreed today to meet face to face for the first time at talks in Nigeria to discuss a draft security framework aimed at breaking a deadlock in negotiations.
Both sides have expressed doubts over the framework, which African Union mediators hope will stop violence in Darfur that has driven more than 1.5 million people from their homes.
"There is going to be a plenary session tonight," a mediator told Reuters in the Nigerian capital Abuja, where the talks are being held. The draft security proposal requires the government to make good on pledges to disarm their Arab and Janjaweed allies and identify any other militias they have been supporting.
The document will call on both sides to cooperate with the AU ceasefire commission and say where their forces are located. Rebels have voiced scepticism over the document, saying it does not mention a demand for a no-fly zone over Darfur or tell the government to pull back its forces to barracks.
"We don't think that this will guarantee security on the ground," said Mr Abdullahi Osman, adviser to the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), today. Sudanese government representatives at the talks say the document is weak because there is no demand for rebels to garrison their forces.
The United Nations says Darfur is one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, which has killed around 70,000 people through disease and malnutrition since March. There are no reliable figures for how many people have died in the fighting. The top UN envoy in Sudan, Mr Jan Pronk, has said a UN Security Council resolution demanding that the violence stop in Darfur and a humanitarian protocol drawn up in April mean the two sides need not discuss aid access or security, which stalled a previous round of talks in Abuja.