The African Union (AU) mediation team had bowdlerized a draft protocol on security issues in Sudan's troubled Darfur region to prevent the collapse of peace talks in Abuja aimed at ending what the United Nations called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Delegates at Wednesday's talks in the Nigerian capital told reporters that the sensitive issue on the cantonment of the rebel forces had been dropped from the draft protocol, which was formulated by the African Union and had been revised twice.

Besides, the revised draft protocol directed that all of the parties to the conflict submit details of their forces for verification and that their troop movements be first cleared by AU ceasefire monitors to build confidence among them.

The protocol also asked the Sudanese government to promptly disarm the Janjaweed militia, made up mainly of Arab nomads and blamed for the bulk of killing and terrorizing of civilians in the19-month conflict in Darfur.

The United Nations said that the fighting in Darfur has left more than 10,000 dead and 1 million others displaced since the rebels, namely the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justiceand Equality Movement, began their uprising in February 2003.

Sudan's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Najeib Abdelwahab, however, figured on Wednesday that the protocol did not clearly speak about the obligations of each party to the conflict. "Unlessit is further amended, it will not be useful at all," he told reporters at the Abuja talks.

On the other hand, the rebels in Darfur had said on Tuesday they are "not optimistic" on the possible outcome of the two-week talks, always stalled by one hitch or the other.

"With the Sudanese government against any foreign participationin disarming both parties, what is the guarantee that the government which had never been neutral in the conflict can be trusted to honestly disarm everybody," said Abdulhafiz Mustapha Musa of the SLM.

AU Chairman and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo also expressed dissatisfaction over the "slow pace of the negotiations"at a meeting last Sunday with all parties, said Ibrahim Mohammed Ibrahim, spokesman for the Sudanese government delegation to the tripartite talks, on Wednesday.

"He (Obasanjo) said that we must strive to quickly arrive at a solution that would improve the humanitarian situation in Darfur and I quite agree with him," Ibrahim added.

The Abuja meeting, which opened on Aug. 23, is another effort by the African Union to help bring about a political solution to the Darfur conflict.

On July 15, the African Union brokered a political dialogue in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa between the Sudanese government and the two rebel groups, yet the talks collapsed due to differences on various issues.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on July 30, givingSudan 30 days to make good its promises to disarm the Janjaweed militia, bring their leaders to justice and protect civilians in Darfur, or face economic and diplomatic sanctions.

The deadline expired early last week and then, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report said that despite "some progress," the Sudanese government had not "fully" met its commitments to protect civilians and disarm the marauding Janjaweed militia.

The UN Security Council is currently mulling over whether to take further actions against Sudan.

Source: Xinhua