Sudan peace envoy quits, analysts say sidelined
KHARTOUM, Nov 29 (Reuters) – The Sudanese government accepted the resignation of peace envoy Ghazi Salah al-Din on Saturday, the eve of a new round of talks in Kenya with southern-based rebels aimed at ending a 20-year-old civil war.
A presidential decree announced the resignation but gave no reasons, although analysts said the presidential peace adviser had been increasingly sidelined since First Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha took a direct role in talks in September.
The analysts said the move was unlikely to upset momentum that could lead to a peace agreement by end of the year. They also said Salah al-Din had previously voiced concerns that the government was offering too many compromises in negotiations.
Taha met John Garang, leader of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), for the first time in September and since then the two have been the main players in the talks to end the conflict that has killed some two million people.
Garang said earlier this month a peace deal was possible before the year-end.
A new round of talks begins on Sunday at Lake Naivasha, some 90 km (55 miles) northwest of Kenya’s capital Nairobi. Taha and Garang are due to join the talks on or around December 5.
Salah el-Din, whose post as adviser carried the rank of federal minister, said in a statement he had asked to resign some time ago but had stayed on at the government’s request.
“I have tried to remain true to my principles, amongst which was realising a just and sustainable peace for all Sudanese,” he said without elaborating on specific reasons for his decision.
The conflict, which erupted in 1983, broadly pits rebels seeking autonomy for the mainly animist or Christian south from the Islamist government in the north.
The government and SPLA signed a two-month ceasefire extension on Friday ahead of the new round of talks.
The two sides still face major obstacles, having failed so far to agree the status of three disputed areas and the sharing of power and wealth. But a security deal last year allowing southerners a referendum on secession after a six-year transition have raised hopes of broader agreement.