KHARTOUM, 25 July 2005 — The Sudanese government has proposed bringing the next round of Darfur peace talks in Nigeria forward by two weeks from planned date of Aug. 24 date, an official said yesterday.
“Sudan has formally asked the African Union to contact the two rebel movements to ensure they accept to hold the sixth round of talks two weeks prior to the scheduled date,” Naguib Al-Khair Abdel Wahab told AFP.
“This move is consistent with a suggestion made by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her recent visit to Sudan” on July 21, said Abdel Wahab.
“It is up to the African Union leadership to take an appropriate decision in consultation with all concerned parties,” the African Union Mission in Sudan spokesman, Noureddin Mezni, told AFP yesterday.
He said the original date for the Abuja negotiations, Aug. 24, was chosen because the mediators “noticed divisions among the rebels during the fifth round of talks and decided to allow them time for coordination”.
“The Aug. 24 date has been set for the rebel movements to harmonize their positions and, moreover, to prepare themselves for negotiating the important issues of power- and wealth-sharing in addition to the security arrangements in the forthcoming sixth round,” said the spokesman.
