China Railway Construction wins 2.6 bln dollar bids in Libya BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's leading railway contractorhas won the bids to build two major railways in Libya, which together are worth about 3.2 billion dinars (2.6 billion U.S. dollars), according to the company.

Organizers predicted little chance of peace in Sudan's Darfur region with the absence of key rebel leaders at talks in Libya.

Sudan's government committed to a cease-fire in Darfur at the start peace talks Saturday, but mediators and journalists outnumbered the few rebels who did not boycott the U.N.-sponsored negotiations, reducing hopes for an end to the fighting.

Excerpt from report by London-based newspaper Al-H

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU SIRTE, Libya - The Sudanese government committed to an immediate cease-fire in Darfur at the opening of peace talks on Saturday, but the expected announcement was not met by similar pledges from rebels, who largely boycotted the U.N.-brokered negotiations.