KAMPALA, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Ugandan rebels said Saturday they had apologised to survivors of a massacre of some 400 civilians their fighters carried out in northern Uganda three years ago.

Santa Okot of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) said the rebels toured the camp in Uganda's Lira district Friday and apologised to widows and orphans of the February 2004 killings, in which their fighters mowed down fleeing civilians and burned them alive. The attack was one of the country's deadliest in years.

NAIROBI, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki called Saturday for a quick end to Sudan's political crisis, following talks with the leader of the semi-autonomous region of South Sudan, Salva Kiir.

Kibaki, whose country was the lead negotiator in ending a two-decade conflict in South Sudan two years ago, also said he had 'contacted (Sudanese) President Omar al-Beshir on the latest crisis,' according to a statement.

KHARTOUM, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - France may take measures against a key Darfur rebel leader living in Paris if he continues to refuse to attend peace talks this week, a French human rights envoy said on a visit to Sudan on Monday.

'We will do everything to convince Abdel Wahed Nur to attend peace negotiations in Libya,' Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade told journalists in Khartoum.

'If he refuses we will draw conclusions,' she said, without elaborating.

KHARTOUM, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - France may take measures against a key Darfur rebel leader living in Paris if he continues to refuse to attend peace talks later this week, a French human rights envoy said in Sudan on Monday.

'We will do everything to convince Abdel Wahed Nur to attend peace negotiations in Libya,' Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade told journalists in Khartoum.

'If he refuses we will draw conclusions,' she said, without elaborating.

KHARTOUM, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - The Sudanese government called on Sunday on southern ex-rebels to rejoin the unity cabinet they quit 10 days ago or risk sinking a 2005 peace deal that ended Africa's longest running civil war.

Vice President Ali Osman Taha's appeal to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement came as north-south Sudanese relations plunged into their worst crisis since a Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed in 2005.

KHARTOUM, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - The Sudanese government called on Sunday on southern ex-rebels to rejoin the unity cabinet they quit 10 days ago or risk sinking a 2005 peace deal that ended Africa's longest running civil war.

Vice President Ali Osman Taha's appeal to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement came as north-south Sudanese relations plunged into their worst crisis since a Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed in 2005.

BUJUMBURA, Oct 20, 2007 (AFP) - Burundi's last active rebel group was urged Saturday to implement a 2006 ceasefire as it boycotted a meeting aimed to put the central African nation's derailed peace process back on track.

'It's a matter of deep regret that they didn't take on this invitation,' said South African mediator Charles Nqakula of the National Liberation Forces (FLN) rebels. '

Nqakula, who is South Africa's security minister, added: 'But again, I ask them to come back to the JVMM (Joint Verification Monitoring Mechanism meeting) unconditionally.'

TOKYO, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - The head of a UN climate panel that shared the Nobel Peace Prize warned Friday that Asia was particularly vulnerable to global warming, with the continent set for more disasters unless action is taken.

'Asia being the rapidly growing continent with the largest share of the human population located over here, clearly vulnerabilities in Asia are going to be of importance,' said Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

TOKYO, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The head of the UN climate panel that shared the Nobel Peace Prize last week said Thursday there was still time for the world to turn around the global warming trend as he visited Japan for talks.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), told a press conference the Nobel prize committee's decision showed it believed climate change was a threat to world peace.

TOKYO, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN climate panel which shared the Nobel Peace Prize last week, arrived in Japan Thursday for talks on global warming.

The Indian scientist, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will give a keynote address at a two-day conference, said an official with the Japanese environment ministry.

The conference is sponsored by Global Environmental Action, a group created by Japanese politicians, business leaders and scholars.