NAIROBI, 28 June 2004 — Sudan’s government and the main southern rebels yesterday began a penultimate round of peace talks in Kenya to secure a permanent cease-fire crucial to ending 21 years of conflict, mediators said.
“The government and SPLMA (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Army) have started talks looking into details of the security arrangement accord, with the aim of reaching a permanent cease-fire agreement,” Lazaro Sumbeiywo, the retired Kenyan general mediating the peace talks, said.
“This session will close on July 19. After taking a break, they return for a final session to discuss how to implement previous agreements as well as compiling a comprehensive peace agreement,” added Sumbeiywo, who leads a mediation team of east African Inter-Governmental Authority on Development.
Military experts from the United States and Britain are expected to take part in the final round of talks, another official in the mediation said.
Vice President Ali Osman Taha and SPLA chief John Garang will not participate in the latest phase of talks, “unless they are called in”, Sumbeiywo said from the talks’ venue in the Kenyan town of Naivasha.
“We are very optimistic that we shall agree on a comprehensive cease-fire with the government as soon as possible. There is absolute determination on our end,” SPLA spokesman Yasser Arman said. “The talks will be in committee levels,” he added.
Since July 2002, Khartoum and the SPLM A have signed accords that provide for a six-year interim period of autonomy for the south, before the region holds a referendum on its political future.
