China urges West to put pressure on Darfur rebels

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - China, under international pressure todo more to end bloodshed in Darfur, urged Western powersWednesday to persuade rebel groups to attend peace talks withthe government of its Sudanese ally.

Liu Guijin, the special Chinese envoy on Darfur, alsorepeated calls for the Khartoum government to show moreflexibility on "technical" issues still blocking the deploymentof a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in thewar-ravaged western Sudanese region.

Liu, whose country is a big investor in Sudan's oilindustry and is its largest weapons supplier, reported nosignificant steps forward in political talks on Darfur.

"Unfortunately on the political process, no substantialprogress has been made," Liu said in Khartoum after discussionswith top Sudanese leaders, including President Omar Hassanal-Bashir.

Of the five key Darfur rebel groups, only two have agreedto unify their positions and join the peace talks, stalledsince the failed summit in Libya in October.

The two key rebel factions, the Justice and EqualityMovement, or JEM, -- the biggest military group -- and thepopulist Sudan Liberation Movement, or SLM, led by Abdel WahedMohamed el-Nur, were still putting conditions on attending anytalks.

"We urge our Western friendly countries ... to use theirpositive influence to engage those factions who have until nowresisted to come over to the negotiating table, to join thepolitical process," Liu said.

Failing to launch a successful political process, heargued, means the joint AU-U.N. mission would not be"sustainable."

TROUBLE WITH TROOPS

Sudan has so far rejected the notion of acceptingnon-African contribution in the joint AU-U.N. force of 26,000troops until all African soldiers have deployed in Darfur.

Liu said Khartoum had not "closed the door regardingaccepting non-African countries."

International experts estimate some 200,000 have died and2.5 million have been forced to flee their homes since theconflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against thecentral government, accusing it of neglecting the region.

The United States calls the violence a genocide. Sudanrejects this and says only 9,000 people have lost their lives.

"We appeal to China to stop supplying the Khartoumgovernment with arms," SLM rebel leader Nur said.

"We want security on the ground first. There should beconflict suspension before addressing the root causes of theproblem," he told Reuters by telephone from France.

China's role in Sudan has come under new scrutiny sincefilm director Steven Spielberg quit as an artistic director tothe 2008 Beijing Olympic games, saying China had failed to useits influence in Khartoum to seek peace in Darfur.

Separately, New York-based rights watchdog Human RightsWatch criticized the U.N. Security Council -- of which China isa veto-wielding member along with Russia, the United States,Britain and France -- for keeping about what it said wereKhartoum's recent attacks on civilian villages in West Darfur.

The group said in a statement that the council's inactionhas given Sudan a green light to continue attacking civiliantargets, flouting international law and council resolutions.

"The Sudanese government's recent attacks take us back tothe very darkest days of the conflict," said Georgette Gagnon,Africa director at the organization. "The Security Councilshouldn't stand by as though this is 'business as usual.'"

(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau at the UnitedNations )