Sudanese president aims to end civil war by end-2003

DOHA, Sept 28 (AFP) — Sudanese President Omar el-Beshir said here Sunday that he hoped to reach a final peace settlement with southern rebels before the end of the year to end Africa’s longest-running civil war.

“I hope that we will celebrate peace before the end of the year,” Beshir said in a meeting with representatives of the local Sudanese community while on a brief visit to Qatar.

The main rebel group in Sudan, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), and the Khartoum government on Thursday signed an agreement at peace talks in Kenya on security issues, seen as a key step in reaching a comprehensive accord.

They had already agreed to a six-year post-war interim period of self-rule for the south.

The latest accord, on which Beshir also briefed Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, has “fixed 90 percent of the outstanding questions,” the Sudanese leader said.

The next round of Sudanese peace talks is scheduled for October 6.

Sudan’s north-south civil war dates back to the 19th century and beyond. Its latest phase began when the SPLA took up arms in 1983. Since then, more than 1.5 million people have been killed and four million displaced.

The war takes place against a background of domination of the mainly black African, animist or Christian south by the Arab, Islamic north, but has become increasingly driven by a fight for control of natural resources, notably oil.