Sudan to receive 200 million dollars on signing peace deal

KHARTOUM, Oct 4 (AFP) — Sudan will receive 200 million dollars in US financial assistance as soon as the government signs a peace deal with southern rebels, the independent Al-Ayam newspaper quoted a US diplomat as saying.

The daily reported that the US charge d’affaires in Khartoum, Gerard Gallucci, said US aid would subsequently increase to reach a total of 500 million dollars.

The US assistance would focus on rehabilitation projects in the south and other regions affected by the conflict, he added, without specifying its financial terms.

Gallucci said he was “confident that the donors would not refrain from extending assistance to the Sudan, like in Afghanistan” when peace is signed, the newspaper added.

Sudan’s civil war erupted in 1983 when southern rebels took up arms to end domination of the mainly Christian and animist south by the Muslim north.

It has since killed more than 1.5 million people and displaced four million others.

Under an agreement reached last year, Khartoum and the rebels decided on a six-year transitional period for the south at the end of which the southern Sudanese would vote for unity with the north or secession.

Southern rebel leader Johan Garang and Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha signed last month an agreement on crucial security arrangements for the south over the interim period, which will begin after a comprehensive peace deal.

Talks are to resume on October 15 in Kenya on the last sticking points, which including the sharing of power and oil resources.