Sudanese president says ready to observe ceasefire

By Deepa Babington

ROME (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Friday that his government would observe a ceasefire in Darfur after the start of peace talks with the rebels next month.

Bashir was speaking on a visit to Rome that has drawn criticism in Italy and abroad. The Sudanese leader also met Pope Benedict, who stressed respect for human rights and religious freedom in the vast African country.

Bashir said he hoped the October 27 peace talks in Libya would be the last of their kind and finally end a four-year conflict in the western Sudan region which foreign experts estimate has killed 200,000 people and driven another 2.5 million from their homes. Khartoum disputes the figures.

"We have given our government's willingness for a ceasefire from the start of the peace talks," he said through a translator at a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who called it a strong and important signal for peace.

Prodi, who has been criticized by European parliamentarians and Italian politicians for hosting Bashir during his rare trip to Europe, said he used the meeting to underline the "strong concerns" of the international community over the crisis.

The Sudanese president in turn urged Europe to pressure rebel leaders to attend the peace talks in Libya. He also maintained the situation in Darfur had improved and called for an easing of sanctions.

A ceasefire was agreed in April 2004 but has been violated frequently, with fighting blamed on government troops, rebels and Janjaweed militias.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged all parties to end the violence immediately and prepare for the deployment of 26,000 U.N.-African Union peacekeepers.