KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan said on Thursday it would lift a threat to arrest Darfur rebel figure Suleiman Jamous when peace talks start to end more than four years of conflict.
Jamous is seen as key to uniting fractured insurgents in Sudan's remote west.
"When there are real talks for sure he will be set free," State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Karti told Reuters. He declined to say whether there would be conditions on his release.
Jamous has been virtually imprisoned in a U.N. hospital near Darfur for more than 13 months after the United Nations airlifted him there for medical treatment. Khartoum was not informed of the U.N. move and calls Jamous a criminal. It had said he would be arrested if he leaves U.N. care.
"At that time we will see if there are any conditions or if we don't need to make any conditions. That is something to be considered at the right time," Karti said.
U.S. actress Mia Farrow this week offered her freedom to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in exchange for the elderly and respected Jamous.
Jamous was the rebel Sudan Liberation Army humanitarian coordinator and helped the world's largest aid operation get access to hundreds of thousands in need in the vast region.
Last week 11 prominent activists including South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke, former Czech President Vaclav Havel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams asked Bashir to release Jamous.
Former U.N. envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk said Jamous was a clever negotiator and the United Nations trusted him.
"He is a crucial person. He is a possible bridge," Pronk told Reuters. "And we have to thank him because he was such an effective humanitarian coordinator ... and has saved the lives of many people because we could rely on him."
Darfur's massive aid operation has had to scale back over the past year because of increasingly violent attacks against their workers. At least 500,000 victims of the conflict are out of reach, the United Nations says.
Jamous has the support of many rebel commanders and a key group, SLA-Unity, has said they wanted his release before attending talks, due to start within 2-3 months.
