Sudan y Conflictos

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and the main rebel group in Darfur, the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), are about to sign a ceasefire.
It is being seen as an important stepto achieving peace before a national election in April.
Some 2.7 million people have fled their homes since the conflict began in the arid western region, and the UN says about300,000 have died - mostly from disease.
How did the conflict start?
The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) began attacking government targets in early2003, accusing Khartoum of oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs.
Darfur, which means land of the Fur, has faced many years of tension over land and grazing rights betweenthe mostly nomadic Arabs, and farmers from the Fur, Massaleet and Zaghawa communities.
How did the government respond to the rebellion?
It admits mobilising "self-defence militias"following rebel attacks.
But it denies any links to the Arab Janjaweed militia - who are accused of trying to drive out black Africans from large swathes of territory.
PresidentOmar al-Bashir has called the Janjaweed "thieves and gangsters".
But refugees say air raids by government aircraft would be followed by attacks from the Janjaweed, who would ride intovillages on horses and camels, slaughtering men, raping women and stealing whatever they could find.
The US and some human rights groups have said genocide is taking place - thougha UN investigation team in 2005 concluded that war crimes had been committed but there had been no intent to commit genocide.

Trials have been announced in Khartoum of somemembers of the security forces suspected of abuses - but this is viewed as part of a campaign against attempts to get suspects tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.