By Xinhua
Washington : The US has urged leaders of rebel groups involved in the Darfur conflict in Sudan to attend without preconditions peace talks scheduled to be held in Arusha, Tanzania.
"The United States urges all invited participants to attend the Arusha conference without preconditions, and calls on the rebel participants to include field commanders in their delegations," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday.
Refusal to attend the meeting "would demonstrate a lack of commitment to solving the crisis in Darfur and would impede the peace process", the spokesman said.
The African Union along with the United Nations will organize the Darfur meeting in Arusha of northern Tanzania between Aug 3 and 5 in a bid to bring to an end the civil conflict in the Darfur region that has claimed hundreds of thousands of victims since 2003.
Former Tanzanian prime minister Salim Ahmed Salim is now working as the African Union special envoy on Darfur.