Sudanese President in Italy

The Sudanese government will consent to a cease-fire with rebel groups, the country’s president said Friday in advance of a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI.

Omar al-Bashir vowed to create a positive climate for peace talks Oct. 27 in Libya on the years-old conflict in the Darfur region that has left more than 200,000 people dead and 2.5 million homeless, BBC News reported.

Bashir spoke with reporters after meeting Friday with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi in Rome and before a private meeting with Benedict, who has pledged to do whatever possible to end what he calls the horror of Darfur, the BBC reported.

Italy is to be part of a stepped-up U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur.

None of the several cease-fires agreed to in Darfur has held and two of the rebel groups planning to attend the peacekeeping talks in Libya claim they recently were attacked by government forces, which Bashir’s government has denied, the BBC said.