SIRTE, Libya - Sudan's government declared an immediate unilateral ceasefire as Darfur peace talks opened on Saturday, but one rebel leader voiced doubts about Khartoum's move, saying it had failed to honour past such undertakings.
"We announce a ceasefire from this moment, and we will respect it unilaterally," Sudanese presidential adviser Nafie Ali Nafie told the gathering in the Libyan town of Sirte aimed at ending 4-1/2 years of violence in the western region.
Rebel leader Ahmed Ibrahim Diraige of the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance told Reuters: "The government has already said several times since 2004 that they observed a ceasefire. They again spoke like this today. We have our doubts."
Mediators acknowledged the meeting was weakened by the absence of key rebel leaders, a reality that cast doubt on whether anything decided at the gathering could produce meaningful results.
On the eve of the African Union-United Nations-mediated talks, two main rebel groups -- the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army Unity faction -- said they would not attend.
That decision emerged after another rebel chief, Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, founder of a third group, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), said he would not attend the talks. JEM-SLA Unity represent the biggest military threat to the Sudanese government and Nur has the most popular support among Darfuris.
In a message from New York, U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-Moon called on those rebels who were absent to attend, saying they stood to lose much if they continued to stay away.
"As a demonstration of your genuine commitment to ending the suffering of the people of Darfur and to finding a lasting peace, I urge all parties to commit to an immediate cessation of hostilities here and now," he said.
African Union (AU) envoy Salim Ahmed Salim told the gathering: "Enough is enough. Let us not forget that what happened in Darfur will sooner or later impact the rest of Sudan, the rest of the region and the rest of Africa. Sudan is a microcosm of Africa."
