SIRTE, Libya – Sudan’s government committed to a cease-fire in Darfur at the start of 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.

The large government delegation said its cessation of hostilities was a sign of goodwill for negotiations aimed at ending over four years of fighting in the western Sudanese region. But the pledge was not matched by the rebels, whose main leaders all refused to attend the talks.

“The government of Sudan is proclaiming as of now a unilateral cease-fire in Darfur,” said Sudanese chief envoy Nafie Ali Nafie. “We shall not be the first ones to fire arms.”

The U.S. special envoy for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, praised the government for its pledge, but cautioned that dozens of previous cease-fire declarations in Darfur have been broken by both government troops and rebel factions.

Participants warned that the absence of a broadly accepted peace agreement could greatly weaken the mission of the joint AU-UN force.