Sudan's Bashir urges rebels to resume talks, only one notable group shows up

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir in a file photo. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir formally reopened talks with rebel and opposition groups on Saturday but only one significant opposition party showed up, and he urged them to halt a boycott on dialogue in return for a ceasefire.

Bashir's government has been confronted by rebellion in its Darfur region since 2003 and a separate but linked insurgency in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan since the secession four years ago of South Sudan.