Sudanese vice president puts off Arab tour
CAIRO, Sept 30, 2003 (Xinhua) — Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha’s Arab tour has been postponed indefinitely, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday.
However, the unofficial sources quoted by MENA in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum did not disclose what was behind the postponement.
The originally planned tour includes Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Earlier in the day, Egypt’s official Press Center told Xinhua that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was expected to hold talks with Taha on matters of mutual concern.
During his trip, Taha was also expected to hold talks with Egyptian leaders on Sudanese issues, especially a newly-signed treaty between the Sudanese government and the rebel Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), MENA said on Monday.
The conflicting sides signed Thursday a deal on security issues and other key points that could lead to a final peace accord.
“Both the Sudan government and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army today signed an agreement on security arrangement on redeployment of forces and a joint command structure,” Kenyan envoy and chief mediator Lazarus Sumbeiywo said in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Thursday.
The deal “means a great step forward” and the security arrangements were “one of four outstanding major issues,” Sumbeiywo told Xinhua after witnessing the formal signing of the agreement.
The security arrangements have been the main stumbling block in peace talks in the Kenyan town of Naivasha.
Under the new deal, Sudan will have two armies under separate command and control during a six-year interim period.
The breakthrough followed high-level talks between Taha and SPLA leader John Garang on how each side’s forces will be deployed during a six-year period of self-rule in southern Sudan.
However, the two sides remain far from reaching a comprehensive peace deal, with power sharing, wealth sharing and the status of three contested areas on the north-south border still at issue.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Army has been fighting against the Sudanese Islamic government for greater autonomy for the predominantly Christian and animist south since 1983.