KHARTOUM (Reuters) - An exiled Darfur rebel leader said on Friday he had agreed to consultations with Qatari officials brokering peace talks with Sudan's government, but made clear that did not mark a move towards full negotiations.
Abdel Wahed Mohamed al-Nur has refused to sit down with Khartoum since he walked out of peace talks in 2006, demanding a return to security on the ground before negotiations.
Any sign of willingness to take part in new discussions will please mediators who have grown increasingly frustrated with Nur's refusal to join talks, despite pressure from Washington, other powers and activists.
Nur's Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) was one of two Darfur insurgent movements that rebelled in 2003, demanding more autonomy for their arid western region.
The conflict has rumbled on for seven years, during which there have been a series of failed ceasefires and attempts to get the warring parties together -- most recently hosted by Qatar's government in its capital Doha.
Nur said he met Qatari minister of state for foreign affairs Ahmad al-Mahmood in Paris on Thursday.
"We thanked the Qataris for the efforts they are making. The only new thing is that we agreed to continue consulting," Nur told Reuters, speaking by phone from his base in Paris.
He said the consultations would cover his ongoing reasons for refusing to go to the talks including reports of continued attacks by government troops and militias on rebels and civilians.
"We are not going to Doha unless there is security ... And at the moment, the security situation is getting worse and worse".
Violence has spiked in Darfur since the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the other group that rebelled in 2003, suspended participation in the Doha talks in early May.
Khartoum is currently negotiating with the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), an umbrella group of small factions dismissed as largely bogus by JEM.
