Sudanese peace talks in Cairo postponed

CAIRO, Sept 28 (AFP) — Peace negotiations between the Sudanese government and its political opponents that were due to open in Cairo on Tuesday have been postponed, a leading opposition figure said.

Abdul Rahman Saeed, vice chairman of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a grouping of northern and southern opposition groups, said the meeting was put off for logistical reasons.

“It has been postponed, for a week or two, for logistical reasons,” Saeed told AFP, adding that the majority of NDA leaders, especially those based in eastern Sudan, had not arrived.

NDA chairman Mohammed Osman al-Mirghani was due to lead his group at the talks, to be held under the auspices of the Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman.

Sudan planned to send a high-level team headed by Vice President Ali Osman Taha, who led the government’s delegation at negotiations with southern rebels in Kenya.