Second Darfur Rebel Group Joins Peace Talks With Sudan Government

There are reports of renewed fighting in the Darfur region of Sudan. This is taking place despite the fact that a peace agreement was signed in late February 2010., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Second Darfur rebel group joins peace talks with Sudan

Tue, Oct 23 2012
By Regan Doherty

DOHA (Reuters) - A second Sudanese rebel group in the western region of Darfur has agreed to start Qatar-sponsored peace talks with the government in Khartoum, officials said on Tuesday, in the first attempt by mediators to revive a stalled peace process.

The move is unlikely to end a recent upsurge in violence in the region where mainly non-Arab tribes have been fighting the government for nearly a decade in a conflict the United Nations estimates has killed around 300,000 people.

But diplomats hope it will inject new life into Western and Arab efforts to mediate a peace settlement. Qatar last year brokered a peace deal between Sudan and one small rebel group, the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM).

Unlike previous failed peace deals, this agreement is open to other rebel groups to join and promises significant development aid. Qatar