NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Infighting among Darfur region rebels is hampering peace efforts, a report issued in Nairobi by the International Crisis Group says.
Government soldiers and allied militias known as the Janjaweed have received the bulk of condemnation for the violence, The New York Times said.
But, but the report also blamed leaders of the main rebel groups -- the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement -- for fighting among themselves instead of negotiating at peace talks in Nigeria.
"Unless reversed, the slow implosion of the rebel movements threatens to extend the tragic situation in Darfur indefinitely," the report said.
For the past year the African Union has been trying to broker a peace deal between Khartoum and the Darfur rebels, and has a large peacekeeping contingent on hand.
Since the rebels launched the uprising in February 2003, more than 300,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million driven from their homes, according to U.N. relief agencies.
