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ABUJA, Nigeria - Sudan's government and rebels ended talks on the country's troubled Darfur region on Wednesday, with agreements on security and refugees but no pact on a long-term resolution to the violence.
A later round, expected in mid December in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, will work on a political accord, delegates said.
Twenty-one months of violence in Darfur have left tens of thousands dead and driven 1.8-million refugees from their homes, international officials say.
The talks ending Wednesday were the first of three rounds to reach even partial deals. Sudan and the two main rebel groups signed two accords Tuesday, one promising aid organizations unfettered access to Darfur's displaced and the other banning "hostile" military flights over Darfur.
Over the past week, the government has launched often-violent raids aimed at relocating residents to new camps. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday in Washington that he had spoken with Sudan's vice president over the weekend and that he had "specifically said that this kind of behavior was unacceptable."
The U.N. Security Council is to meet in Nairobi next week to discuss the crisis.
Elsewhere . . .SYRIA-U.S. TIES: Syrian President Bashar Assad on Wednesday renewed his country's call for dialogue with the United States to improve strained relations.
COLOMBIA FIRES ARMY CHIEF: The head of the Colombian army was dismissed Wednesday with no explanation. Gen. Martin Orlando Carreno became army chief Nov. 18, 2003, as the government launched an offensive into the strongholds of the leftist guerrillas.
RUNOFF IS OFFICIAL: Opposition reformer Viktor Yushchenko barely edged out the pro-Kremlin candidate in the first round of Ukraine's presidential vote, setting up a runoff Nov. 21, official results showed Wednesday.