Sudan rebel leader leaves peace talks after Khartoum VP fails to turn up

NAIROBI, April 22 (AFP) — The leader of Sudan’s main rebel group on Thursday left the Kenyan venue of crucial peace talks after Vice President Ali Osman Taha failed to return from Khartoum as allegedly promised, a rebel spokesman told AFP.

Sudan’s People Liberation Army (SPLA) spokesman Yasser Arman said John Garang had left the hotel in Naivasha, 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Nairobi, where talks have been deadlocked over the sole remaining issue of contention: whether or not Sharia law in Khartoum should apply to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

“Since the vice president has overdelayed, Garang has decided to go and attend to other businesses. He will only return when the vice president reports back to Naivasha,” Arman said told AFP by phone.

It was not clear if Garang had left Kenya.

Lazaro Sumbeiywo, the Kenyan mediator of the talks, confirmed Taha was late.

On Saturday “he (Taha) told me he was going for three to four days, but they are now over,” said Sumbeiywo.