Sudanese official upbeat on deal with southern rebels in Kenya

KHARTOUM, Nov 25 (AFP) — A Sudanese government negotiator expressed optimism Thursday on the prospect of concluding a deal with southern rebels by the year-end, saying a final phase of talks in Kenya could be wrapped up in 10 days.

“The coming 10-day period is enough for discussing the remaining issues since the last round of talks has covered a lot of the power and wealth-sharing protocols,” Amin Hassan Omar was quoted as saying by the official Sudan News Agency.

Low-level delegates are set to begin talks on Friday before Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army leader John Garang go head to head on December 6.

The UN Security Council last week moved to Nairobi and extracted a written promise from the government and SPLM/A to sign the deal ending 21 years of war by December 31.

At least 1.5 million people have been killed in the war and over four million displaced.

Two intense years of negotiations have already delivered agreements on key issues such as sharing of power and wealth, leaving only details of a permanent ceasefire and technical security measures still on the table.

“There will be no difficulty as what will be discussed is how to implement what has already been agreed upon, rather than new agreements,” said Omar, shortly before he and his colleagues left for Nairobi.