Sudanese rebels 'may quit talks'

Darfur is seen as the world's worst humanitarian disaster

A Sudanese rebel group from Darfur has threatened to quit peace talks in Nigeria, saying government attacks against villages are still continuing.

Mahgoub Hussain of the Sudan Liberation Movement said government forces bombed a village in north Darfur on Saturday.

The threat came as aid agencies evacuated workers from two towns in Darfur following reports of attacks.

More than 1.5 million people have fled their homes in Darfur and some 70,000 have been killed in the conflict.

'More representation'

More than 20 aid workers left the town of Zalengei by helicopter on Sunday while aid workers were also evacuated from the town of Nertiti, also in western Darfur.

African Union-sponsored peace talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, aimed at ending the war, are entering their second week.

On Sunday, the smaller of the two rebel groups represented at the negotiations made a "declaration of principles", which called for more representation at the national level and more local powers for Darfur.

The Justice and Equality Movement's spokesman Ahmed Hussain Adam said the proposals concentrated "on the real issues: the political marginalisation, the economic marginalisation and the social marginalisation" of ethnic groups from Darfur.

He said the government's proposal to devolve powers to Darfur's three states - including their own elected parliaments - were "empty statements".

He also called for Darfur's ethnic groups to be represented in Sudan's government, and for army reform which would mean more people from Darfur and other regions would be recruited into the military.

Abdel Rahim Kalil, the Sudanese ambassador to Nigeria, who is also one of the government representatives at the talks, described the demands as "reasonable".

"We believe all the regions of Sudan need to be adequately represented at the federal level," he said.

Islamic code

But the larger rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement, said Sudan's army attacked the village of Kafott in north Darfur on Saturday, using helicopters and Russian-made Antonov aircraft.

Spokesman Mahgoub Hussain said people had been killed and warned his group may counter-attack.

AU peacekeepers are present in Darfur

"My army is ready for anything," he said.

The Sudanese government and rebels signed a peace deal in April.

Mr Hussain also said his group was calling for the scrapping of Sudan's Islamic legal code.

"We need to separate religion and the state," he said.

"I am serious about that because that is the real problem in Sudan."

The government based in the Islamic north of the country has said the law should remain in place.

In another development, peace talks to end Sudan's southern civil war have been adjourned until 26 November.

Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) rebel leader John Garang and Sudan's First Vice President Ali Osman Taha are due to meet on 11 December with the aim of signing an agreement to end the decades-long civil war.