Sudan leader, Darfur rebels to meet, Libya says

TRIPOLI, Feb 20 (Reuters) Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir will hold talks with Darfur rebels in Libya today to try to advance peace efforts in the western Sudanese region, a Libyan official said.

The talks will also be attended by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki and UN and African Union envoys, the official said.

A Libyan official said he expected Gaddafi to try to persuade the National Redemption Front Darfur rebel group to join a peace deal reached between one rebel faction and Bashir's government in May 2005.

Violence in Darfur has caused one of the world's most worst humanitarian crises and prompted the United States to accuse Khartoum's government of genocide. Sudan denies the accusation.

Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 2 million driven from their homes in a spiral of violence slowed only by one of the world's largest humanitarian operations.

Violence in Darfur has spilled over to Chad and Central African Republic.

Gaddafi, who advocates African solutions in resolving African conflicts and avoiding reliance on Western diplomacy, sees neighbouring Sudan and Chad as his diplomatic backyard.

Gaddafi has hosted a string of mini-summits and other gatherings on the Darfur conflict in the past two years.

UN envoy for Darfur Jan Eliasson and his AU counterpart Salim Ahmed Salim will attend today's gathering.

REUTERS MS 1701