Rebels in Darfur are set to have crunch peace talks at a meeting with Sudan’s government in Abuja, Nigeria next week. A peace settlement will be the vital issue under discussion between then parties in an attempt to resolve the horrifying situation that has developed in the Darfur region, said former rebel leader John Garang yesterday.

In Cairo yesterday, Garang, who leads the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), met with the Egyptian Prime Minister, Hosni Mubarak, in a briefing on the progress of talks between the SPLM and the Sudanese government, and in particular regarding the draft of the new constitution.

In April, Garang also met with rebel leaders in Oslo, Norway who were adamant that they would approach talks with the government "without any preconditions...I believe they have already set June 10 as a date for the meeting," he reported.

The Darfur conflict took off in February 2003 after rebels complained about discrimination by Sudan’s Arab-dominated government. In response to this, the government has been accused of backing an overwhelming attack by Arab militias – the Janjaweed.

This has led to a humanitarian crisis in Darfur, where more than 180,000 people have been killed by war, hunger, disease according to the UN’s estimates. Another 2 million have been driven out and displaced from their homes.

Last month the two main rebel groups – the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement – met in Libya with local leaders from the north, south and west Darfur regions, and it was agreed that talks with the government should resume.

In January 2005 a peace deal was struck and this made Garang the first vice president, and also allowed a path to be opened up for a new constitution to be written up that would allow the southern states to vote on succession in 6 years.

Garang spoke about the constitution draft was "going well and we hope that we will finish it before middle of June and then be approved by parliament and the SPLM to pave the way for the formation of the national government by July 9."

Islamic wording for the constitution has been overcome by there being 2 versions – one for the Islamic-dominated north and another for the mixed Christian-Muslim south regions.

Garang warned of the impending humanitarian crisis if all those displaced return home immediately. He said, "We expect some 3 million people to return to southern Sudan from the north and another million from neighbouring countries, that's more than the Tsunami (crisis). The U.N. food pipeline is virtually empty and people are actually starving to death in some places in southern Sudan. It is a horrific situation."