Darfur update

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Darfur rebels and Sudan government officials exchanged blame for undermining three-day-old peace talks, which were overshadowed Thursday by fighting over a Darfur town and the prospect of an imminent international arrest warrant against Sudan's president for alleged war crimes.

The talks hosted by Qatar are the first such one-on-one meeting between the Sudanese government and Darfur's strongest group of ethnic African rebels, the Justice and Equality Movement. It was also the first round of peace talks between any rebels and the government since the last negotiations foundered in 2007.

Other Darfur rebel groups are not attending the talks, which began Tuesday with the aim of sealing a cease-fire and setting a framework for negotiations on a peace deal. Up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been forced from their homes in Darfur's war, which began after rebel groups complaining of discrimination and neglect took up arms against the Arab-led government in 2003.

But the talks were shaken Thursday by reports that the Hague-based International Criminal Court will soon issue a warrant against President Omar al-Bashir, whom court prosecutors accuse of war crimes for allegedly masterminding genocide against Darfur's ethnic Africans.

So much for peace. Six more years! Six more years!