AU and UN to name joint Darfur mediator

Khartoum: The African Union and the United Nations are working to appoint a joint chief mediator to jumpstart peace efforts in Sudan's Darfur region, UN Darfur envoy Jan Eliasson said on Monday.

The former Swedish foreign minister said the selection process was in its final stages.

"Our job was to re-energise the political process," he told journalists in Khartoum, where he was on a visit for talks with Sudanese officials.

Experts estimate some 200,000 have died and 2.5 million have been forced from their homes in five years of ethnic and political conflict in the Darfur region.

Efforts by Eliasson and his African Union counterpart Salim Ahmed Salim to end the festering conflict have been complicated by a surprise strike by rebels last month.

Eliasson said he was willing to stay on in an advisory function once the new mediator is in place, adding that the mediator should have a "very, very strong mandate."

"We will do everything we can to bring about restraint on the side of the parties, both government and movements at this stage," he said. "I hope they realise the futility of thinking of military solutions to this tragic problem."