“Concessions” reached in peace talks between Sudanese VP, rebel leader

Al-Khartoum daily newspaper, on 10 September 2003

The SPLM (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement) has confirmed that it has accepted a number of concessions during talks which are going on at present between the Sudanese first vice-president, Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha, and the [rebel] leader, John Garang.

Pagan Amum, a leader who is also a member of the SPLM delegation, said the concessions regard the setting-up of joint military units during the transitional period, as well as leaving parallels 12 and 13 as division lines between the forces.

It also includes the proposal of leaving the borders of southern Sudan as per 1 January 1956, as a division line to re-deploy forces, and the agreement that the joint military unit would be of 21,000 soldiers, who would be deployed both in the north and the south..

With regard to the round of negotiations which was due to resume today, 10 September, between the government and the SPLM delegations, the official government spokesman, Sayyid al-Khatib, said that talks between the Sudanese vice-president and John Garang were still continuing. He stressed that these were high-level talks and were not outside IGAD, therefore, it was not possible to set two rounds of negotiations at the same time.