KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Darfur rebels said they released on Sunday 63 government soldiers captured during recent fighting, the latest in a wave of clashes which have dimmed hopes of reviving peace talks.
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, charges he denies. The United Nations says the rebellion and Khartoum's counter-insurgency campaign drove 2 million from their homes, sparking one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
The army said it had received 44 prisoners from the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday but denied they were from last week's clashes or that any were injured.
The ICRC confirmed they had received 44 prisoners from the militarily powerful rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on Sunday but declined to give further details.
"We released 53 prisoners of war today to the ICRC and 23 of them were wounded -- 10 others were handed over to (tribal) leaders," senior JEM official al-Tahir al-Feki told Reuters.
The escalation in Darfur fighting since April elections has left little hope of renewing a Qatari-sponsored peace process, which had seen some progress because of reconciliation between Sudan and neighbouring Chad.
JEM suspended the talks after government bombardment forced them to redeploy and allowed the army to take control of a rebel stronghold on the Chad border. JEM troops have clashed with the army throughout North and South Darfur.
JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim has said the government had failed to abide by a truce so there was no point in returning to returning to Doha for the talks.
(Reporting by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Dominic Evans)
