Peace talks on Darfur move to Libya

The second round of peace talks to solve the crisis in Darfur region of Sudan is to resume in Libya instead of Nigeria, where the first round of talks was held in August, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said in Abuja on October 15.

Obasanjo, also president of the African Union (AU), made the announcement when a delegation of ambassadors from the European Union, the United States, Canada and Australia made a call on him in his office in the capital Abuja.

"Moving the meeting to Libya will ensure the attendance of many more neighboring countries, whose cooperation is crucial to lasting peace in Darfur," he said.

The president told the envoys that the beefing up of troops on ground in Darfur to the required figure of 4,500 had preoccupied the attention of the AU, noting that a battalion from Rwanda wouldbe in Sudan on Sunday.

He said a second African battalion to be drawn from Nigeria would be in Darfur by Oct. 30, adding that three more battalions would be drafted from three other countries by the end of October.

He said the AU hoped to have the full complement of troops including the police in Darfur by the end of November.

The AU chairman also said at least three other battalions would be required to stabilize the new Somali administration sworn in in Kenyan capital Nairobi on Thursday.

The troops would be required "to urgently embark on disarmament, demobilization, recruitment and training of recruits for a new national army of Somalia and for the effective functioning of the new government," he said.

He appealed to the ambassadors to get their home governments to assist in the provision of the necessary logistics to the African countries willing to volunteer troops to Somalia.

While pledging the assistance, Aart Verdegaal, ambassador of the Netherlands to Nigeria who led the delegation, called for the extension of the AU mission mandate in Darfur and an increase in the number of military observers.

The Darfur crisis, which began 20 months ago, has left thousands of people dead and one million more displaced.