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Kadhafi urges Darfur rebel to rejoin peace talks

20 July 2010 04:49 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi called Monday for Sudanese rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim -- who is currently being sheltered by Tripoli -- to return to Qatari-brokered peace talks, he said in an interview, APA reports quoting AFP.
"I call on my brother Khalil to rejoin the Doha negotiations because there is no other option but to enter the peace process," Kadhafi told Radio France International.
Ibrahim is the head of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the most heavily armed group in the Darfur region. He has been in Libya since May 19, after he was turned back by authorities in Chad as he sought to enter Darfur.
The JEM suspended peace talks at the start of May involving Qatar, the African Union and the United Nations, and resumed hostilities.
Libya’s decision to shelter Ibrahim has angered Khartoum, which has sought his extradition and asked Interpol’s help in arresting him.
Kadhafi said the presence of Ibrahim was a "dilemma" for Tripoli, adding that he had been banned from giving orders or issuing statements while in the country.
"I am not protecting one party against another, my role is not to protect but to make a reconciliation between all the parties involved," said Kadhafi.
Kadhafi said a meeting had taken place in Libya between Ibrahim and Chad’s President Idriss Deby Itno, without giving further details.
The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have been killed by the civil war in Darfur in the last seven years, and 2.7 million people displaced.