Sudan, southern rebels tell US they have reached peace deal: State Department
WASHINGTON, May 11 (AFP) — The Sudanese government and southern rebels have told the United States they have agreed to the terms of a peace deal to end their long-running civil war and will be able to sign a formal agreement “any day now,” the US State Department said.
“They have indicated to us that they have reached agreement and that they expect to sign a deal, but we have not seen that happen in actuality yet,” spokesman Richard Boucher said.
The top US diplomat for Africa, Charles Snyder, was flying to the site of the peace talks in Kenya on Tuesday to assist the parties in putting the agreement in writing, Boucher said.
Snyder “is heading out there and representatives of other governments are heading out there to help the parties achieve what they tell us they have achieved, which is (that they have) reached agreement and are getting ready to sign,” he told reporters.
A senior State Department official said Washington was not entirely convinced that a final settlement was imminent, given numerous similar unmet predictions from Khartoum and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
But the official said that Snyder expected to be able to help the two sides complete the process of drafting an agreement to end the war, which started in 1983 and has resulted in the deaths of 1.5 million people.
“They told us last week they are in the process of writing it down and they expected to be able to sign something any day now,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Reports in Khartoum earlier Tuesday said the government and the rebels were close to a power-sharing agreement covering the Nuba Mountains and the southern stretch of the Blue Nile, two areas that have been of greatest contention, that could open the way to a peace accord.
On Friday, mediators at the talks in Lake Naivasha, outside Nairobi, said Khartoum and the SPLA expected to sign key elements of a comprehensive accord to end the conflict in the next few days.
They said the two sides had narrowed their differences on whether Islamic law should apply in Khartoum during a six-year transition period when the city will serve as joint capital for both north and south.
But they stressed that even if texts are signed in the coming days, another round of talks will be needed to clinch agreement on the details of a comprehensive ceasefire, its implementation and the nature of an international peacekeeping force.
Since July 2002, when the two sides struck an accord granting the south the right to a referendum after a six-year transition period, other deals have been reached on a 50-50 split of the country’s wealth — particularly revenues from oil — and on how to manage government and SPLA armies in the interim.
The south, where most people observe Christian or traditional faiths, has been fighting to end its domination and marginalization by successive governments in Khartoum.