AU mediators give negotiators chance to brainstorm on Darfur talks

Thabo Mbeki, the chief mediator of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) for Sudan, has reportedly requested the parties involved in the Darfur peace talks in Addis Ababa to work out a proposal on the first round of talks.

Thabo Mbeki, the chief mediator of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) for Sudan, has reportedly requested the parties involved in the Darfur peace talks in Addis Ababa to work out a proposal on the first round of talks.

Mbeki asked Jibril Ibrahim of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the leader of Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction Minni Arko Minnawi as well as the government delegation at the talks to present a proposal on how the first round of talks on Darfur should be conducted.

A source close to the talks told Radio Tamazuj that the delegations since yesterday worked to present a proposal as requested by the African Union mediators so that the first round of talks begin.

The Sudan Liberation Movement faction (SLM) led by Adel Wahid Mohamed al-Nur had boycotted the negotiations. The armed movement set many preconditions for its participation in the negotiations.