UN enovy to head to Eritrea on east Sudan peace initiative

KHARTOUM, July 13 (AFP) — UN special envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk is to fly to the Eritrean capital Asmara on Thursday in a bid to find a solution to the rebellion in eastern Sudan, a UN spokesman said.

UN special envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk .

“Mr Pronk will tomorrow travel to Asmara where he will meet with President Issaias Afeworki as well as with the leadership of the Eastern Front,” George Somerwill told reporters in Khartoum on Wednesday.

The Eastern Front, formed in February 2005, is made up of different rebel groups, some of which have been fighting since 1994 to end years of alleged marginalisation by successive Islamic governments in Khartoum.

Pronk “will follow up on previous UN contacts with the Eastern Front which were made by his deputy … three weeks ago,” he said.

Sudanese media reported Wednesday that Pronk initiative had been given the go-ahead for the visit by former southern rebel leader First Vice President John Garang and Vice President Ali Osman Taha.

Pronk was quoted as saying he would meet Afeworki “because he is in a position to help persuade the leaders of the eastern opposition movements” to head for peace.

The UN envoy was also reportedly hopeful that negotiations between the two sides could begin in Nairobi in August.