Darfur Rebels Say Power Deal First, Disarming Later

Rebels from Sudan's Darfur region  Thursday rejected calls to disarm or confine their fighters to  their bases before a political solution to the conflict there  has been decided and implemented. At African Union-mediated peace talks in the Nigerian  capital Abuja to end 18 months of revolt in remote Darfur,  Sudan's government agreed to enlarge an AU force in the area to  help confine rebels to their bases while Sudanese forces disarm  Arab militias known as Janjaweed. Sudan has already agreed to about 300 AU forces in Darfur  to protect more than 100 observers of a shaky April cease-fire. But rebels said they would not disarm until after a  political solution, including devolution of power and  wealth-sharing, is agreed and implemented in Sudan's arid west. [more ]