The UN and African Union are to meet key regional and international actors in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur to seek a blueprint for peace in the region.

The meeting in Libya on 15-16 July comes days after the UN warned that violence in Darfur had displaced another 160,000 people since the beginning of 2007, and increased the number of people in need of aid to 4.2 million, or nearly two-thirds of the population.

“Security incidents involving internally displaced people have more than tripled,” said a statement issued in New York by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“Particularly worrying is that attacks against the relief community have increased 150 percent in the past year,” the statement said. “In June, one out of every six convoys that left provincial capitals in Darfur was hijacked or ambushed.”

The talks, to be held in Tripoli, will discuss a ‘road-map’ for peace in Darfur, designed jointly by UN special envoy Jan Eliasson and his AU counterpart, Salim Ahmed Salim.

Representatives from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the EU, key donor countries and Sudan’s neighbours have all been invited.

The road-map, drawn up after intensive consultations with the parties involved in the conflict, outlines a three-phase approach that the UN and AU expect will culminate in the launching of peace talks between the Khartoum government and Darfur rebels.

Phase one of the plan aims to bring all peace initiatives under the aegis of the UN and AU. The second or pre-negotiation phase envisages creating the conditions necessary to launch peace negotiations - the third phase.

Escalating violence

Only one of the three negotiating rebel groups signed an agreement with the government in Abuja, Nigeria, last year.

The rebel groups have since split into several factions and the UN, AU and aid workers say this has led to an increase in violence, as rebel leaders lose control over fighters.

According to OCHA, more than 35 relief convoys have been ambushed and looted since the beginning of the year and had their cargo stolen, while four Darfuris working for relief agencies have been killed.

Since January, 64 vehicles used by agencies have been hijacked, with 132 staff temporarily detained, often at gunpoint.

“We will continue to adapt operations to ensure that the most vulnerable in Darfur receive at least some relief,” John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said.

“But what we most need is an effective ceasefire. This is possible – the rebel groups and the government could and should choose now to stop the violence,” he added.

Eleven AU troops had also been killed. Observers say the under-funded and under-equipped AU troops, who arrived in the region in 2004 to monitor a truce, largely have been unable to end the violence.
Last month, Sudan agreed to the deployment of a more robust hybrid force of 20,000 troops and police but the operation is not expected to get under way until next year.

At least one rebel faction, the Sudan Liberation Movement headed by the Paris-based Abdul Wahid Mohammed al-Nour, has already said it will not recognise the outcome of the Tripoli meeting.

The Darfur conflict flared up when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003, accusing the central government of marginalising their region.

The government reacted by arming militias to counter the rebellion, but the militias have been accused of unleashing terror on local populations.

About 13,000 relief workers are scattered across the vast region trying to help those affected - most relying on expensive helicopter flights to keep operations going because of the volatile security situation.