On the eve of a high-level UN meeting on Darfur, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court urged world leaders to “break their silence” and put justice at the top of the agenda because there will be no peace as long as alleged war criminals remain free in Sudan.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir today announced that new peace talks to end the four-year conflict in Darfur will start October 27 in Libya.

The African Union stepped up pressure on Sudan’s holdout rebels to sign a deal to end Darfur’s three-year civil war and appealed for a stronger African peacekeeping force to monitor implementation of the peace agreement signed by the government and the main rebel group.