War-weary Darfuris dance to rare music beat

EL-FASHER, Sudan, Nov 2 (Reuters) More used to the sound of gunfire, the residents of Darfur's main town el-Fasher tapped their feet to a rare beat as musicians from all over Sudan performed in a festival for reconciliation.

For ten days, puppet shows for children, street theatre and concerts provided welcome distraction for Darfuris who for more than 3-1/2 years have been terrorised by rebels, government and militias fighting a bitter conflict in Sudan's west.

The festival, which took place in North and South Darfur, was aimed at informing the population about a peace deal signed in May between one rebel faction and the government.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and 2.5 million forced from their homes during a campaign of rape, murder and pillage which the United States has labelled genocide.

Just one rebel faction has signed the peace deal brokered by the African Union (AU) and thousands of Darfuris have demonstrated against it, saying it does not give them enough compensation or political representation. Violence continues.

The festival was organised by a British consultancy hired to help the struggling AU peacekeeping force which is trying to preserve what is left of a tattered ceasefire.

About 10,000 people packed el-Fasher's stadium for Tuesday night's concert, the festival's finale, cheering, dancing and lighting fireworks as artists urged them on.

''This is the biggest concert we've seen since the beginning of the war,'' said 27-year-old Ahmed Abdallah Ahmed.

But the festival also highlighted just how tense the region is.

It was unable to reach some camps for the displaced in the north.

Since the peace deal, the camps have become a hotbed of unrest and the AU has been attacked in larger camps by war victims frustrated at its failure to protect them from continuing violence.

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