Sudanese rebels visits Khartoum for first time in 20 years

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, December 06, 2003

Sudanese rebels visits Khartoum for first time in 20 years

A senior delegation of the Sudanese rebel movement arrived in Khartoum Friday to pay the first such visit during the country's 20 years of civil war.

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A senior delegation of the Sudanese rebel movement arrived in Khartoum Friday to pay the first such visit during the country's 20 years of civil war.

The 10 members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) were welcomed near the airport by thousands of people, mainly southerners living in the Sudanese capital.

The delegation, which came on a flight from Libya, is expected to meet senior government officials and religious groups, both Christians and Muslims.

Among the visitors were Abdel Aziz Helou, a senior SPLA member, and Yasser Arman, spokesman for the group's leader John Garang.

The Sudanese government has pledged to cooperate with the visiting delegation as part of their efforts to end the conflicts between the Muslim-dominated government in Khartoum and the southern-based SPLA.

Since 1983, the SPLA has been fighting with the Sudanese Islamic government forces for greater autonomy in the predominantly Christian and animist south.

The civil war has killed more than two million people, either through combats or concomitant famine and disease.

The two sides have been in negotiations since early 2002 and have made considerable progress, but critical issues still remain undecided.

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