A new round of talks aimed at ending a two-year conflict in Sudan's Darfur region began in Nigeria on Friday with both sides cautiously optimistic about chances for a deal. Delegates from the Sudanese government and two rebel groups attended a ceremony to launch the negotiations at an Abuja hotel, along with mediators headed by the African Union. "My expectation is that we will reach a final deal. I think the conditions on the ground are better. There is a will of the Sudanese people for peace," Majzoub al-Khalifa, head of the government negotiating team, told Reuters before the ceremony. Four previous rounds of talks in Abuja ended in stalemate. "We came to this round with an open heart to find a definitive peace. We seriously want to engage in negotiations about political and economic issues ... that are the root causes of the conflict," said Ahmed Tugod, chief negotiator for the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
