AU hails progress in Sudan peace talks

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 28, 2004 (PANA) — African Union (AU) Commission chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare has acknowledged progress in talks here, in which the Government of Sudan and separatist Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) appear set for a comprehensive peace agreement on 10 January.

In a communiqué Monday, Konare said the AU believes the signing of the agreement would end the two-decade conflict in southern Sudan.

Khartoum and the SPLM/A have so far signed under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) a series of agreements and protocols on wealth and power sharing as well as security.

They have also signed a pact on the three disputed areas of
Abyei, Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile, as provided for by the Machakos Protocol of July 2002.

Konare expressed hope that final peace between the belligerents would usher a new era that will lead to an equitable political dispensation in Sudan as well as create a conducive condition for the resolution of the conflict in the western region of Darfur.