New Darfur rebel group to unite armed wings: spokesman

ASMARA (Reuters) - Leaders of a new Darfur rebel grouping will travel back to Sudan's restive western region to unite their armies, a rebel official said on Monday.

Five rebel groups joined last month in Eritrea under the umbrella United Front for Liberation and Development (UFLD), but have yet to integrate their armed wings.

"All the leadership council will move to the field in Darfur. The aim is to finish uniting all the armies into one group," spokesman Abdel Aziz told reporters in the Eritrean capital.

Since a peace deal last year, Darfur insurgents who did not support the agreement have split into more than a dozen factions, presenting a major barrier to any peace talks.

Various rebel political leaders and field commanders met in Tanzania earlier this month and agreed on a common negotiating position for new talks with Khartoum.

African Union and United Nations mediators hope those talks will start in the next two months.

The rebel leaders also pledged to remain open to other faction bosses who did not attend the negotiations.

The absence of some influential rebel leaders has raised doubts over the chances of the talks succeeding.

International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in the four-year conflict, but Sudan puts the number at 9,000.

Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of neglecting Darfur. Khartoum mobilized mostly Arab militias to quell the revolt.