The Sudanese government announced in Khartoum Sunday that it has formulated a delegation to participate in the next round of peace talks on Darfur in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

Najeeb el-Kheir Abdu-el-Wahab, minister of state in the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, said the delegation, headed by ruling National Congress's political secretary, will leave Wednesday for the talks with the Darfur rebel groups in Abuja, which will start on Friday.

The 18-person delegation was fully authorized by Sudanese President Omarel-Bashir to seek a political solution for the Darfur conflict in coordination with the participants and the observers on their role to back the peace talks, he said.

El-Kheir noted that his government had received the African Union's commitment that the talks would be held in a complete secrecy with little leakage to the media so as to prevent the negative impact of the uncovering, adding the step has been adopted by the AU to ensure the upcoming round be final and successful.

The next round of talks, which is expected to last for three weeks, will mainly focus on the issue of the political solution based on the declaration of principles which had been discussed during the last round of talks, he said.

The Sudanese official revealed that representatives of the European Union, the African Union, the Arab League, the United States, France and Sweden will participate in the talks.

Sudan's arid and impoverished western region of Darfur has been in the grip of civil war for more than two years. Many people have been killed or driven from their homes.

The African Union has brokered a shaky ceasefire and struggled to find a political solution through three previous rounds of talks in Abuja.

(Xinhua News Agency June 6, 2005)