Sudanese Rebels Say Ready to Resume Talks with Government

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, September 04, 2002

Sudanese Rebels Say Ready to Resume Talks with Government

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The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) expressed Tuesday its willingness to resume peace talks with the government, which were suspended after the rebel forces took control of a key garrison town in the south.

Addressing a press conference here, the SPLM, however, denied that its capture of the strategic town of Torit in the south was the cause of a breakdown in peace negotiations.

"Internal difficulties" facing the Khartoum government were to blame, SPLM spokesman Samson Kwaje told reporters.

The Sudanese government suspended the second round peace talks with rebels, which began on Aug. 12 at the Kenyan town of Machakos,to protest the rebels' capture of Torit on Sunday.

The government then ordered an army mobilization and vowed to recapture areas they had lost to the SPLM rebels.

A statement issued Tuesday by the Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi said the rebel attack on Torit had "spoiled the atmosphere" of thetalks.

"That indicated the SPLM is still committed to the military option and not willing to negotiate in good faith or consider peace a viable option," it said.

However, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD),which is sponsoring the peace talks between the Sudanese government and the SPLM, expressed confidence Tuesday that the goal of finding lasting peace in the country is still achievable.

Speaking on behalf of the IGAD at a press conference here, Kenyan Special envoy to the Sudan Lazaro Sumbeiywo said that the current break in the talks does not signal an end to the Sudan peace process.

A framework agreement reached last month in Machakos between the two warring sides in the Sudan was hailed as a breakthrough inthe 19-year-long civil conflict.

In the Machakos Protocol, the government also agreed not to impose Islamic Sharia law on the largely animist and Christian population in the south.

Both parties agreed that a referendum for the population in southern Sudan, the scene of fierce fighting between Khartoum government and the rebels since 1983, be conducted in six years' time to decide whether the south will secede or remain in a united udan.

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