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 
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