ABUJA (AFP) - Darfur rebel leaders stormed out of a meeting with Sudanese government envoys on the security crisis in their region, as African Union mediators struggled to revive a faltering peace conference.
"We are not going to participate in the security meeting because they are trying to force us to sit with government delegates," said Abubakar Hamid, a senior military leader from the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
"This is against our position. We would rather have a separate meeting with African Union officials. The AU should then have a separate meeting with government members of the committee," he said.
AU mediators set up a separate committee on security in Darfur on Monday after the rebels refused to sign an agreement guaranteeing the security of Darfur's 1.5 million displaced people until the military issue was sorted out.
Following the walk-out, the delegates from the JEM and the allied Sudan Liberation Movement headed back to their hotel from the Abuja conference venue.
"We're going to sort this out," said Nigeria's General Festus Okonkwo, commander of an embryonic AU truce-monitoring force for Darfur as he set off after the delegates to try to lure them back to the negotiating table.
The security committee was set up to resolve disputes over alleged ceasefire breaches and the demobilisation of rebel forces on the sidelines of the main peace conference, which is seeking to halt Darfur's 20-month old civil war.
10/25/2004 - 15:25 GMT - AFP