Southern Sudan Party Quits Government

United Nations special envoy to Sudan, Jan Eliasson, left, speaks during a joint press conference with Ambassador Sam Ibok, senior advisor to theAfrican Union, in Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday Oct. 11, 2007. Eliasson, who is heading-up the peace process in Darfur, said that a pause in peace negotiations between Khartoum and the rebel factions embroiled in a Sudanese civil war, envisaged to begin on Oct. 27 in Libya, would only lead to more violence.(AP Photo/Abd Raouf) (Abd Raouf - AP)

In the latest violence, Arab militias attacked the rebel-held town of Muhajeria this week. The U.N. said part of the town was burned and its 20,000 inhabitants had fled; the rebels have claimed at least 48 people were killed.

Clashes between rebel and government forces were also reported in other parts of Darfur, prompting aid and U.N. workers to pull out of those areas. The U.S. Embassy said it was temporarily withdrawing its staff from Darfur for security reasons.

The United Nations' special envoy to Darfur called on the government and rebels to begin upcoming peace talks with a cease-fire and urged both groups to make concessions.

Jan Eliasson's visit to Sudan was focused on generating momentum for the peace discussions, which are scheduled to take place in Libya on Oct. 27.

"The parties should put an end to the violence in the Darfur region as a first step in the coming negotiations," Eliasson told reporters in Khartoum. "Fighting should not be the means for achieving political goals."

The U.S. Embassy said it was aware of the southerners' decision to pull out from the government and said it continued to support the unity of Sudan.

Andrew Natsios, the White House's special envoy to Sudan, said during a visit to Sudan last week that he was "deeply concerned with the health" of the 2005 agreement and warned, "the risk of a clash is high."

The Khartoum government led by President Omar al-Bashir has rejected a border drawn by an international commission, and both sides have reportedly massed fighters along the contested region.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali Sadiq refused to comment on the southerners' decision except to say that the ministry's two deputies would take charge. Both are northern Arabs and members of the ruling National Congress Party.

Khartoum's hard-line Arab elite has "its own power system," Amum said. Without the balance of the former southern rebels, "They will go back to their old ways, which is the way of dictatorship," he said.

Al-Bashir's government came to power in a military and Islamist coup in 1989, and there have been no elections since.