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Last Updated: Saturday, 24 July, 2004, 01:55 GMT 02:55 UK
Rebels agree to new Darfur talks
Sudanese refugees (Oxfam)
More than a million people in Darfur have fled their homes
The UN says two rebel groups from Sudan's Darfur region have agreed to new talks with Khartoum to try to find a political solution to the crisis.

A first round of talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, broke down a week ago, when one of the groups walked out.

The rebels have accused the Sudanese government of failing to act on their promises to disarm the Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed.

They have forced more than a million from their homes and killed thousands.

Demands

The Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) were the two main rebel groupings attending the talks in Ethiopia, which were brokered by the African Union and backed by the UN.

The talks aimed to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Darfur by fully implementing a shaky ceasefire agreed in April.

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They were suspended after the rebels said the government had refused to meet their conditions to end their insurgency.

These included the withdrawal of government forces from Darfur and an international enquiry into charges of genocide against non-Arabs in Darfur.

African Union and UN officials will now approach the government to discuss where and when talks can take place.

International duty

On Friday US President George W Bush told Khartoum to rein in the Janjaweed and allow relief agencies to work.

His speech in Washington came after the US Congress unanimously approved a resolution urging the president to call the situation in Sudan "by its rightful name - genocide".

The UN and the White House have so far avoided that label, which would entail an international duty to step in.

The UN has described Darfur as the world's worst humanitarian crisis - food, water and medicines are running low in the refugee camps.

Some 170,000 refugees from Sudan have sought safety in neighbouring Chad, and many are camped along a 600km stretch of the border.


WATCH AND LISTEN
The BBC's Oliver Conway
"The Sudanese government is on the offensive"



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