NYT: Accord Hopes Dim in Darfur With Departure

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Accord Hopes Dim in Darfur With Departure
By LYDIA POLGREEN and JOEL BRINKLEY
Published: May 1, 2006

KHARTOUM, Sudan, May 1 —Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick announced today that he was rushing to Nigera, to push the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels to reach agreement on a treaty intended to bring an end to the carnage in Darfur, Sudan....

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The United States has placed nearly all of its hopes for a resolution of the crisis on the peace talks being held in Abuja, Nigeria, and a failure there would leave the Bush administration without a viable option to end the violence in the foreseeable future.

Mr. Zoellick's surprise mission to Abuja came shortly after the top Sudanese official at the talks, Vice President Ali Osman Taha, abruptly left Nigeria, where he had remained for three weeks trying to hammer out a peace agreement. Mr. Taha's departure dimmed hopes for a swift peace agreement....

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Mr. Taha's departure came after Sudan's government offered Sunday to accept a potentially historic Darfur peace agreement, but two of Darfur's three main rebel groups raised last-minute objections that left the negotiations mired in confusion as a midnight deadline passed. Mediators agreed to extend the talks for 48 hours at the request of the United States.

It was unclear whether Mr. Taha was leaving permanently or simply heading to Khartoum to consult with Sudan's president, Omar Bashir, on late changes to the agreement....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/world/africa/01cnd-darfur.html?hp&ex=1146542400&en=78d708c6aa05eb91&ei=5094&partner=homepage