Straw got commitment from Khartoum to use Naivasha accords as template for peace talks over Darfur

In Khartoum, after talks aimed at urging the government to comply with UN demands to end the conflict, Mr Straw said on Monday that the regime in Khartoum had given him a commitment to use the southern Naivasha agreement, which includes elements of devolution and wealth-sharing, as a framework for peace in Darfur.

He said Khartoum had pledged to use accords signed in May with rebel groups in the south of the country as a template for peace talks over the western Darfur region. The talks are taking place in Abuja, Nigeria. "I was pleased to learn of the commitment of the government of Sudan to using these protocols," Straw said after talks with Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail. The Naivasha accords, named after the Kenyan town where they were sealed, aimed to end a 21-year war in the south.

Straw said Sudan had agreed to put forward a similar idea at Abuja. "If you look at the six Naivasha protocols, you see a framework for ... devolution both of power and wealth," he said.