Sudanese Foreign Minister Moustafa Othman Ismail said Wednesday that peace talks between thegovernment and rebel groups in Darfur will open in the Nigerian capital of Abuja next Monday, and the rebel groups have agreed to attend the talks.

Ismail, speaking to reporters after a tour to Libya, Nigeria and Chad to seek support in resolving the crisis in Darfur, underlined the Sudanese government's interest in the negotiations and expressed the hope that the talks would produce a peaceful solution to the problem in Darfur.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chadian President Idriss Deby and a representative from Libya will participate in the talks,Ismail said.

In Chad, two rebel groups that are fighting government forces and Arab militia in Darfur pledged their attendance in the latest round of talks next week, sponsored by the African Union (AU).

"We will be at the meeting in Abuja. Our delegation will consist of 26 people," a spokesman for the Movement for Justice and Equality (MJE), one of the two rebel movements in Darfur, said.

Ali Sugar, coordinator of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, said his group will send a team of about 30 people to the Abuja meeting and they were "ready to go."

Darfur has been beset by an 18-month conflict between rebel forces of local black tribes, the government and the Arab militia known as the Janjaweed since February 2003. The conflict has created what the United Nations called the world's worst humanitarian crisis, in which more than 10,000 people have been killed.

The spokesperson for the UN Mission in Sudan, Radhia Achouri, said Wednesday that the number of internally displaced people in Darfur has risen to 1.2 million from 1 million recorded last month.

In addition, 270,000 people need humanitarian assistance, Achouri said, adding that the total number of people affected by the conflict has reached 1.48 million.

Given the rising numbers of displaced persons and those in needof humanitarian aid, the World Food Program (WFP) said it was gearing up for a "critical stage" in delivering relief food to theconflict-affected people in Darfur.

As the rainy season reaches its peak, the UN food aid organization is facing an ever-greater challenge in meeting the needs of Darfur's displaced and dispossessed, a WFP press release said Wednesday.

To meet the challenge, the WFP is increasing its air operationsinto the region, with a particular emphasis on El Geneina, capitalof West Darfur, the state worst affected by the rains.

Starting Wednesday, three Antonov 12 cargo planes will airlift about 100 tons of food per day into El Geneina. The three planes are to complete three rotations per day each, weather permitting.

The WFP's scheduled air-drops into West Darfur continue, with nearly 1,000 tons now delivered into three locations: Fur Buranga,Habila and Arara. A one-month ration was delivered to Fur Buranga and Habila, while Arara has received a two-month supply of food.

"Delivering food by air is an expensive option but at this timeof the year we have no other choice in parts of Darfur," said WFP Sudan Country Director Ramiro Lopes da Silva.

Besides, the WFP continues to reinforce its capacity to move food by surface transport. The first 21 of a total of 120 all-terrain trucks leave Khartoum Wednesday, bound for El Geneina, after receiving their UN license plates on Tuesday.

The second batch of 35 all-terrain trucks is being cleared by customs in Port Sudan and will then proceed via Khartoum to El Geneina.

Although the Sudanese government and the AU are divided over the nature of an AU mission in Sudan, which consists of 150 Rwandan troops, the AU is boosting its military presence in the country to help ensure security.

Sudan wants the mission to supervise the cease-fire signed on April 8 in Ndjamena, Chad, between the government and the rebels, and rejects the idea of upgrading the mission to a peacekeeping force.

Nigeria, the current chair of the AU, is asking its parliament to authorize a mission of up to 1,500 troops to Sudan. The Nigerian contingent is expected to join Rwandan soldiers next week.

Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Edappakath Ahamedsaid Wednesday that his country will send an infantry battalion with support elements to Sudan to join a UN peacekeeping mission.

The Indian contingent would include an air force unit comprising six utility helicopters and a special police unit, Ahamed said.

Source: Xinhua