Talks aimed at ending 3 years of conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan have began in the Nigerian capital Abuja. The current head of the African Union, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, and the Nigerian leader, Olusegun Obasanjo, are chairing meetings with rebel leaders and the Vice President of Sudan, Ali Osman Taha. Since the conflict began, tens of thousands have died and more than 2 million people have been driven from their homes. Alex Last reports from Abuja.

This grand meeting is supposed to speed up the process of reaching a comprehensive peace deal on Darfur. The AU says that after 2 years of agonizingly slow negotiations, the two sides haven’t till the end of the month to reach an agreement. Mediators say there has been real progress over the last few weeks, a new ceasefire deal could be reached soon, which they hope would pave the way for a comprehensive peace agreement by the end of April.

旨在结束苏丹达尔福尔地区为期三年的冲突的会谈在尼日尔首都阿布贾举行。现任的非盟主席德尼·萨苏-恩格索，尼日利亚总理奥巴桑乔主持这次反抗组织领导人和苏丹副总统阿里·奥斯曼·穆罕默德·塔哈之间的会谈。冲突爆发以来，成千上万人已经因此而丧生，两百多万人流离失所。Alex Last从阿布贾报道。

这次空前的会议是为了加速达尔福尔地区达成全面和平协议的谈判进程。非盟说，在经历了进展迟缓的两年谈判之后，这个月底前双方没有能够达成一个协议。调停人士表示，在过去的几个星期里，谈判已有了切实的进展，新的停火协议很快就能达成。他们希望这个停火协议能为四月底达成一个全面和平协议铺平道路。