The Sudanese government said on Sunday that it objected to the inclusion of Eritrea among the mediators at the peace talks on the Darfur conflict which resumed in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Friday.

In a press statement, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail said Eritrea is neither a neutral in the conflict in Sudan's western region of Darfur, nor a neighbor of Darfur like Chad, Libya and Egypt.

Ismail said that Eritrea is the choice of the Darfur rebel groups and that the government delegation would not hold face-to- face talks with the rebel representatives if the Eritrean delegation remained in the mediating teams.

The Darfur rebels, however, did not want Chad to be involved as it was accused of siding with the Sudanese government.

Mediators include a team from the African Union (AU) as well as observers from the United Nations, the European Union and other countries.

Following a six-month lull in Abuja peace talks, the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebels launched the fifth round on Friday in a bid to end a two-year conflict, which has killed thousands of civilians and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.

Source: Xinhua