Sudan has expressed its anger to France for refusing to press a key Darfur rebel leader to attend a UN-African Union mediated meeting of rebels in Tanzania aimed at forging a united position ahead of peace talks.
Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, founder and chairman of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) has only a few troops in the central Jabel Marra region. But he commands huge support among some 2.5 million Darfuris living in refugee camps after violence in Sudan's remote west.
He refused to attend the talks in Arusha, Tanzania, until an oil-for-food programme and no-fly zone is implemented in Darfur.
"The foreign ministry summoned the French ambassador to Sudan... and expressed the anger of the Sudanese government at the French government's failure to push...Nur ..to attend the meetings in Arusha," the foreign ministry said in a statement seen by Reuters on Sunday.
It said this behaviour was out of line with comments by France on how important it viewed the Darfur issue. And it accused France of bias by holding the government responsible for the suffering of the people of Darfur while ignoring the responsibility of the rebels.