Darfur rebels agree on position for talks with Sudan

By C. Bryson Hull

ARUSHA (Reuters) - Darfur rebel factions meeting in Tanzania have reached a common negotiating position for final peace talks with the Sudanese government which they want held within three months, international mediators said on Monday.

The rebel factions had been meeting at a luxury resort in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha to try and bury past differences over the leadership and direction of the vast western region of Sudan.

"They ... recommended that final talks should be held between two to three months from now," U.N. envoy to Darfur Jan Eliasson told the closing session of the four-day meeting.

Eliasson said the groups had reached "a common platform" for negotiations, encompassing power and wealth sharing, security, land and humanitarian issues.

The rebels gave few details, saying several groups would stay in Arusha to work them out.

There was no immediate reaction from Khartoum. The government has said it was ready to talk to the rebels, though not to substantially change what was already agreed in a May 2006 peace deal with one rebel faction.

International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in the four-year conflict since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglecting Darfur. The government mobilized mostly Arab militias to quell the revolt.

Since the 2006 peace deal, insurgents have split into more than a dozen groups with myriad demands.

Analysts have said the meeting's chance of success was hampered by the absence of some important rebel figures, but nonetheless succeeded in boosting unity.

"The key ... is who they are going to send to negotiations to represent them all," International Crisis Group analyst Hannah Stogdon told Reuters.

"If they can agree on that publicly, that is a good sign."

REBELS OPEN TO ABSENTEES

Diplomats said the presence of field commanders helped bridge a political-military divide in the movements.

"There was more consultation among themselves than with us," AU special envoy to Darfur Salim Ahmed Salim told reporters.

The rebel political leaders and field commanders meeting in Tanzania also decided to keep open the possibility for those who were invited but did not participate in the Arusha consultations to join their common platform, he said.