Talks break down in Sudan
(CNN) -- Talks broke down Saturday between two rebel groups and the African Union, which has been trying to mediate an end to the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan, where government-backed Arab militias are blamed for a campaign of mass murders.
Adam Thiam, African Union spokesman, said the rebel groups -- the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army -- won't compromise on conditions they want the government to meet before the next level of talks can start. Saturday was the third day of discussions.
The two rebel groups began a revolt in February 2003, after black Darfur Africans accused the largely Arab Janjaweed militias of attacking the region's mostly black farmers.
The rebels accuse the government of arming the militias to loot and burn African villages in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Khartoum denies the charge.
Humanitarian officials say 1.2 million people in Darfur in western Sudan have been left homeless and now live in barren refugee camps.
The rebels want:
The Sudanese government to disarm the militias, or Janjaweed;Janjaweed members in police departments and the armed forces to be dismissed and brought to justice;No government obstruction of humanitarian aid;Government investigations of human rights violations."We are not giving up. We know at the African Union there is no alternative to the political dialogue for the conflict to end," Thiam said.
The United States has drafted a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ending the violence in Sudan.
