Sudan sees rebel deal possible despite difficulties : F M
RIYADH, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Sudan’s foreign minister said in remarks published on Thursday there were still differences in peace talks with southern rebels but a deal was possible.
Khartoum hopes to reach a peace accord with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army to end more than two decades of civil war once the issues of how to share power in the oil-producing state and three disputed areas, including Abyei, are settled.
“There is still a gap in the positions of the negotiating parties over Abyei,” Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told Saudi Arabia’s al-Watan newspaper.
“But we do not think it is impossible to reach an agreement if intentions improve and more efforts are exerted to reach peace, especially since past agreements and historical documents show that Abyei belongs to the north,” he added.
Ismail said earlier this month the government was prepared to compromise on Abyei by saying the area, which contains oil reserves, was a separate district belonging to the presidency.
“Any attempt to resolve the issue in an unjust or illogical way will lead to a fierce civil war in the area,” he said.
Around two million people have been killed in the civil war in the south which has pitted the Islamist government against rebels from the largely Christian and animist south.
Ismail also said Khartoum hoped Washington would allow human rights bodies to attend the trial of a suspected Sudanese al Qaeda member held at a U.S. military base in Cuba.
The United States has charged Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi and a Yemeni man with conspiracy to commit war crimes and said they would be brought before a military tribunal.
“We are pushing for a just trial for this Sudanese national and for human rights organisations to be given a chance to attend and the prisoner’s family to appoint lawyers,” he said.
The Pentagon has promised fair trials and assigned military lawyers to represent the two, described as close associates and former bodyguards for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.