Preparations underway for fresh talks between Sudan and opposition

CAIRO, Nov 29, 2004 (Xinhua) — A Cairo-based Sudanese opposition leader said Monday preparations were underway for a new round of Cairo talks between the Sudanese government and the opposition group, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported.

Abdel-Rahman Sa’ed, deputy leader of the Sudanese National Democratic Alliance (NDA), was quoted as saying the new round of talks was likely to be held in early December.

He said there were contacts between NDA leader Mohammed Osman al-Merghani and Sudanese First Vice President Ali Osman Taha and ruling National Congress Party Secretary General Ibrahim Omar for restarting the talks.

Sa’ed said the NDA was ready for this round, adding the preparations were still going on for the resumption of the negotiations to end some “outstanding problems”.

The NDA is an umbrella group including southern Sudanese rebels and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), one of the two main rebel groups in Sudan’s western Darfur region.

The Sudanese government and the NDA held a procedural session in Cairo in August and reached an agreement on holding direct talks with a set agenda later.

A second round of dialogue between the two sides started on Oct. 21, which were conducted through four committees covering constitutional, legal, economic and political issues.