Long anticipated peace talks on the Darfur crisis between the Sudanese government and two rebel groups kicked off Thursday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, with the African Union (AU) warning participants that escalation can do no good to both sides.

The AU is looking forward to a political solution to the Darfur crisis, as AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said there's "no success in military escalation."

"Nothing can justify the conflict in Darfur... For Sudan the only way is political dialogue," Konare said in his opening statement at the talks.

However, the rebels put forward their demand to participate in this political process. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) as well as the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM) named the withdrawal of government forces and the Janjaweed, a pro-government Arab militia, as a precondition for them to participate in the AU-sponsored peace talks.

The rebels laid down their conditions in a list read out by SLM representative Adam Ali Shogan, calling for "removal of government troops and Janjaweed militia from Darfur, including those who are integrated into the police or other government offices."

The Janjaweed, whose scorched-land policy and methods were accused by rights groups as "bordering on ethnic cleansing," was a main cause in the death of at least 10,000 people and displacement of another million since the indigenous revolted against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government last February.

The Darfur crisis was the center of attention in last week's AU summit in Addis Ababa, considered as a test for the AU's commitment to security and peace, an issue which bugs the impoverished continent for decades.

The AU sent Konare to Chad in a sit down with the Sudanese sides just before the summit, which booked the talks of Thursday.