NAIROBI, 5 July 2003 — Peace talks between Sudan’s government and southern rebels will resume at the Kenyan Rift Valley town of Nakuru tomorrow, the chief mediator announced here yesterday.
“I confirm that formal peace talks will resume on Sunday between the Sudan government and Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels for seven days,” the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) chief negotiator Gen. Lazaro Sumbeiywo told journalists.
Sumbeiywo said the sixth round of negotiations will center on the main outstanding issues of power-sharing, wealth-sharing and security arrangements during a six-year transition period. “The negotiations in Nakuru will be the final phase of the talks during which the two parties will prepare the final documents they expect to sign in the middle of August,” Sumbeiywo told journalists.
A protocol signed in Machakos last July provided for a six-year period of autonomy for the south, ahead of a referendum to decide whether it would secede fully or be granted more autonomy.
The fifth round of the talks aimed at ending 20 years of civil war between the two parties adjourned on May 20.
