Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo,also the chairman of the African Union, on Tuesday met here with his Chadian counterpart Idriss Derby for the resumption of peace talks on the crisis in Sudan's western region of Darfur.

The meeting at the Abuja international airport, also attended by African Union Commission Chairperson Alpha Omar Konare, was a continuation of the last meeting on the Darfur issue held in Chad,Obasanjo's spokeswoman Remi Oyo told reporters.

The leaders convened to discuss "how to jump-start the Abuja peace talks on Darfur," which had remained suspended since December last year, Oyo said.

Under the auspices of the African Union, the Sudanese government and main rebels in Darfur had held several rounds of peace talks in Abuja without major breakthrough. Nigeria has said it hoped to restart the talks this month.

Darfur has been embroiled in fighting since February 2003 when the rebels took up arms against Khartoum, accusing the authoritiesof not protecting them from the attacks of the militia called Janjaweed and demanding autonomy.

The conflict has so far caused many deaths and sent thousands of refugees fleeing to neighboring Chad.

Source: Xinhua