Sudan's warring parties have arrived in Geneva at the invitation of the United Nations to discuss the protection of civilians through possible local cease-fires, U.N. officials said. But one side did not show up for the talks on the first day.

Senior representatives from the Sudanese army and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces accepted invitations to meet separately with the U.N. secretary-general's personal envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman at U.N. headquarters in New York, told reporters.