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Quote: U.S. Convenes Peace Talks on Darfur, but Rebels Are Mostly Absent Simon Maina/Agence France-Presse - Getty ImagesAbdul Wahid Muhammad Nur, center, chairman of the Sudanese Liberation Movement, before strategy talks on Tuesday in Nairobi, Kenya. Sign In to E-Mail This By JOEL BRINKLEY Published: November 9, 2005 NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov. 8 - The American effort to encourage an end to the carnage in the Darfur province of Sudan suffered a blow on Tuesday when the leaders of the largest faction there walked out of a meeting that had been called by Robert B. Zoellick, the deputy secretary of state, to promote unity among competing groups. "We can't sit with them as equals," said Saif Haroun, an officer of the group, nodding toward his rivals. About 30 minutes later, after American officials threatened and cajoled them, the rebel leaders begrudgingly returned to the meeting. But at the end of the day Mr. Zoellick, only half joking, described as his main achievement "getting them in the room together to listen." The Darfur groups left here as divided as they had come, even after Mr. Zoellick told them, "While you're bickering, people are dying." After nearly three years of bloodshed in Darfur that has claimed at least 200,000 lives and displaced more than two million people, the Bush administration has placed all of its hopes on peace talks, which have limped along for more than a year. The current obstacle is a power struggle between factions of the Sudanese Liberation Movement, the main Darfur rebel group. Late last week one faction's leader, Mani Arko Minawi, had himself elected chairman, an election the longtime incumbent chairman, Abdul Wahid Muhammad Nur, refused to recognize. Mr. Zoellick invited both men here for a reconciliation conference. But it did not go well. Mr. Minawi did not show up. Aides said he was busy. On his way here, Mr. Zoellick had said his goal was to encourage the rebels to present one strategy, one voice, at the peace talks with the Sudanese government. But after his meetings, he acknowledged that he did not even know who would show up for the rebels when the talks resume in two weeks. American and Sudanese officials said the continuing power struggle works only to the advantage of the government in Khartoum, which holds the largest share of responsibility for the violence in Darfur, which the United States calls genocide. The last negotiating session ended Oct. 20 after accomplishing almost nothing because the rebels could not agree on their approach. After the meeting here, Mr. Zoellick headed for Sudan, where he will meet Wednesday with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and other leaders. Mr. Zoellick said he believed that the violence could be brought under control only through peace talks, which is why he invited the rebel leaders here. When the meeting here opened, the faction led by Mr. Nur filed into the room first. Mr. Zoellick was shaking each man's hand as Mr. Minawi's faction walked in, feigned surprise and indignation, then walked out. The others followed, leaving Mr. Zoellick nearly alone. He instructed his aides to tell the rebels: "I came all this way. I am here. I am prepared to sit in this room. If you don't want to come back, I will draw my own conclusions." Soon enough, they did return. Mr. Zoellick cajoled them to stay and gave them his message: "We want to help, but you need to help us by speaking with a unified voice." After nearly two hours of discussion, he asked the two factions to agree on a joint statement that the United States had written. It called for all sides to renew their cease-fire, and for the rebels to return to the peace talks with a unified position. After an hour of debate, the competing groups refused to sign it. More Articles in International >Click here to download a copy of Today's New York Times Related Articles