ASMARA, April 22 (Reuters) - Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki flew to Khartoum over the weekend to discuss peace talks for Sudan's restive Darfur region and a separate eastern peace deal, Asmara said on Sunday. Eritrea mediated a peace agreement between Sudan and eastern rebels in October last year, and hopes to play a major role in bringing those Darfur rebels who did not sign a 2006 peace deal to the negotiating table with the government. Khartoum has expressed willingness to hold peace talks in Asmara, but some western nations are wary they will be sidelined if negotiations are held in the Red Sea state. Afwerki arrived on Saturday for "talks with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan on bilateral relations, the Darfur issue and the implementation process of the East Sudan Agreement," government Web site shabait.com said. The United Nations says around 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and 2.5 million displaced since the conflict flared in 2003 when rebel groups took up arms against the government. Khartoum agreed last week to allow the deployment of U.N. personnel to Darfur to help the 7,000-strong African Union force there.
