Sudan rebels say peace talks hit impasse

NAIROBI, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Sudanese rebels said on Monday that peace talks with the government aimed at ending a 20-year conflict that has killed two million people had hit an impasse over procedure and mediators were trying to solve the problem.

“We’re stuck on procedural matters. Until we break the impasse we’re not going to discuss substantial matters,” said Samson Kwaje, spokesman for the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

“Mediators are trying to get a way out to overcome this impasse,” he told Reuters.

Kenyan chief mediator Lazaro Sumbeiywo said the current round of talks was tough, but he remained optimistic negotiations would be successful.

“One has to expect confrontations in any negotiations of this kind. We have been having confrontations even though they have been of a manageable level,” he said.

Sumbeiywo said the delegates had requested that talks be extended to run until September 20, almost a month longer than planned, to give time for a deal to be reached.

The civil war in Africa’s biggest country erupted in 1983 and largely pits the Islamic government in the north against rebels seeking more autonomy in the mainly Christian or animist south. Other issues at stake include oil, ethnicity and religion.

For the past year, the warring factions have been trying to negotiate an end to the conflict, but remain at odds over how to carve up power and wealth, including oil.

The peace bid suffered a setback last month when Sudan slammed mediators’ proposals outlined in a document widely dubbed the Nakuru draft.

The draft proposes exempting parts of Khartoum from Islamic sharia law and splitting the army and central bank between north and south — a move that critics say fosters disunity.

“The government doesn’t want to use the Nakuru draft. The SPLA says we have to use it,” Kwaje said.