Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir today offered a ceasefire in Darfur and promised to disarm militias in a new push to show the government is serious about ending the conflict.

Sudan has launched attacks on two villages in northern Darfur, the Joint UN-African Mission in Darfur (Unamid) said tonight.

Sudan’s government committed to a ceasefire in Darfur at the start of peace talks, but many rebels boycotted the UN-sponsored negotiations.

In a rare, high-profile visit to the West, Sudan’s president today met with the pope and Italy’s premier, and offered to declare a cease-fire with Darfur rebels to coincide with the start of UN-backed peace talks next month.