Sudan leader arrives in Libya for Darfur talks

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

The talks were due to begin late today but were delayed until tomorrow morning because Chad's President Idriss Deby had not arrived, another official said.

The discussions will also be attended by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki and U.N. and African Union envoys.

The first 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 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 a huge humanitarian operation, which aid workers warn is increasingly under threat.

Washington calls the violence genocide, a term which European governments are reluctant to use and which Khartoum rejects.

The bloodshed in Darfur, an area the size of France, has spilled over to Chad and Central African Republic.

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

He 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.

Bashir has resisted pressure to authorise a deployment of thousands of U.N. peacekeepers to support a 7,000-strong African Union mission in Darfur.

He says the AU force is strong enough and the United Nations could give money and logistical help to a hybrid force.

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