U.N., AU lay down Darfur plan, warn on Janjaweed

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The United Nations and African Union said on Thursday the focus of their new strategy for troubled Darfur is to unite the disparate rebel groups in readiness for peace talks with the Khartoum government.

The African Union's special envoy for Darfur and the U.N. Special Envoy for Sudan said they hoped to build on efforts by Chad, Libya, Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan to encourage the different Darfur rebel groups to find common ground.

They warned of an unspecified price for the lack of cooperation.

The AU's Salim Ahmed Salim also said Sudan must take responsibility for disarming Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed.

"Unless this issue is tackled and tackled seriously and effectively, the prospects of peace in Darfur become more remote. It is the government's responsibility," he said.

Rights groups accuse Khartoum of arming the Janjaweed, blamed for a host of atrocities in the region, to quell the rebellion. Khartoum denies supporting the militia, calling them outlaws.

"The key word now in this stage of the next few weeks is convergence. If we have convergence now and move the negotiation process in a convergent pattern, then we will be able to seriously prepare for negotiations," the U.N.'s Jan Eliasson said at a joint news conference.

The details of the plan have gone to the heads of the United Nations and the African Union, he added.

The United Nations says some 200,000 people have died and more than 2 million have fled their homes since the Darfur conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government, accusing it of neglect. Sudan says only 9,000 have perished.

After failing to persuade the Sudanese government to accept a large U.N. force in Darfur, mediators have switched their attention towards initiatives to unite the rebel groups ahead of possible peace talks with the government.

Only one main group signed a May 2006 peace agreement with Sudan although small factions later committed to the deal, which has failed to stop the violence.

Attempts to bring other rebels to the negotiating table have previously failed because of divisions between those groups and government attacks on their positions.

Salim and Eliasson said they have endorsed the latest initiative to unite the rebels, taken by the semi-autonomous government of southern Sudan, which has said that unity talks could take place in the south by July.

The Khartoum government has welcomed the initiative and several rebel commanders have agreed in principle to attend.

Eliasson said: "We are between hope and desperation practically. Hope that we will not miss this chance to go for the political solution but also great fear that we will have uncontrollable developments."