Norwegian minister in Kenya for Sudanese peace talks

KHARTOUM, Mar 07, 2004 (Sudan Tribune) — The Norwegian minister of international development, Hilde Johnson, arrived yesterday to Naivasha amid the stagnation of Sudanese peace talks, the Sudanese press reported today.

An official of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) has said that there are efforts by the mediators to bring the opinion of the two parties closer to each other.

The Norwegian representative had held separate talks with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement leader, Col John Garang, and the Sudanese first vice-president, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha.

According to the daily Akbar al-Youm, the president of the External relations Commission at the French National Assembly Edouard Baladour had also met the leaders of the two delegations.

“There is nothing new in the peace talks”, said Sayyid Khatib, the government delegation spokesman. In a statement to Al-Sahafah daily newspaper, he denied that there are any new ideas from the mediators in this regard.

The ongoing Sudanese peace talks in the Kenyan town of Naivasha have stagnated because of the issues regarding the disputed Abyei Region.