Sudan's two rebel groups in the Darfur region walked out of peace talks in Nigeria for 24 hours today
saying they needed to mourn 75 civilians killed by Sudanese government forces and Arab Janjaweed militia in the last three days.
"Today a whole village has been torched, that is why the two movements have decided to boycott the talks for 24 hours to mourn our people," said Sharif Harir, a negotiatior for the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) rebel group.
Rebels earlier accused the Sudanese government of deliberately violating a ceasefire to fuel a humanitarian crisis in the war-torn region.
The United Nations has given Sudan until August 30 to tackle what it calls the world's worst humanitarian situation or face economic and diplomatic sanctions.
Pro-government militia, known as Janjaweed, are widely accused of killing thousands and forcing a million people from their homes in Darfur since two rebel movements began a revolt against Khartoum 18 months ago.
"The government is deliberately violating the ceasefire. They are doing this to delay access to the camps," said Adam Ali Shogar, coordinator of the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) rebel group, before talks resumed in the Nigerian capital Abuja today.
The leader of the Sudanese government delegation, Agriculture Minister Mazjoub al-Khalifa, denied the allegation.
Rights groups have accused Khartoum of restricting food and medical supplies to the refugees housed in makeshift camps in the western desert region the size of France, although international monitors say access is improving.
UN and Sudanese government officials are touring Darfur, and UN special envoy Jan Pronk is expected to brief UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan before Monday's deadline.
"The humanitarian situation ... nutrition, food and health among the IDPs (Internally Displaced People) has stabilised in the camps. The food situation is better, there is no increase in the mortality rate," Pronk told reporters in West Darfur state capital Geneina.
But Pronk said there was more fear among the people of the region than he had envisaged.
Refugees in camps visited by Pronk have complained that human rights abuses continue, with Janjaweed agents infiltrating the camps or attacking refugees who strayed from them.