U.N., AU envoys talk with former rebels

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JUBA, Sudan, April 10 (UPI) -- U.N. and African Union envoys took their mission to resolve the Darfur conflict to Juba Thursday for talks with former Sudanese rebels, a U.N. spokeswoman said.

Seeking to get the stalled political process back on track, the United Nation's Jan Eliasson and the African Union's Salim Ahmed Salim met with Salva Kiir, Sudan's first vice president, and members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement task force on Darfur and the United Resistance Front, U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

The latter group was created recently in an alliance that joined five movements in Darfur where rebels have been fighting government forces and allied militiamen since 2003.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and nearly 2.5 million others displaced from their homes in Darfur. Previous attempts to find a lasting peace have faltered or stalled.

Okabe said the envoys will visit the Darfur region itself next Wednesday.