Sudanese, Rebel Leaders to Meet in Kenya for Peace Talks

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 05, 2003

Sudanese, Rebel Leaders to Meet in Kenya for Peace Talks

The Sudanese and rebel leaders are expected to meet in Kenya in a bid to push forward the Sudanese peace talks, the rebel leader said Thursday.

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The Sudanese and rebel leaders are expected to meet in Kenya in a bid to push forward the Sudanese peace talks, the rebel leader said Thursday.

"I have just arrived in Nairobi on my way to Naivasha to meet with First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha of the Sudan government," John Garang, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), told a news conference upon his arrival at the Nairobi airport.

"We have come fully prepared and resolve these issues," added Garang.

The head of Sudan's main rebel group and the senior government official are going to hold the first face-to-face talks ahead of anew round of peace negotiations.

The Sudanese civil war started as the SPLA took up arms fighting for self-determination in the southern part of the country in 1983.

The conflict has left some 2 million people dead, mostly through war-induced famine and disease.

The Sudanese government and the SPLA began peace talks last July in Kenya, aiming at ending the longest civil war in the continent, under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a seven-member regional group in East Africa, consisting of Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, Eritrea, Tanzania and the Sudan.

Unfortunately, the sixth peace talks, supposed to be the final phase of the talks, ended in Kenya in July with key issues, covering security arrangements in the post-war period, power-sharing arrangements, wealth sharing and the three conflict areas,still unresolved.

Both sides, however, promised to remain in the peace process inthe hope of achieving a just, durable and sustainable peace in their country.

"We are going to negotiate in good faith. The two parties (government and the SPLA) have negotiated for too long. Enough is enough, and we are ready to make tangible results this time round," Garang said.

Naivasha is some 90 km northwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi.Kenya is holding the current chairmanship of the IGAD ministerial sub-committee on the Sudan issues.

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