Sudanese vice president to visit Egypt

CAIRO, Sept 29, 2003 (Xinhua) — Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha will kick off a visit to Egypt on Wednesday, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported Monday.

During his trip, Taha is expected to hold talks with Egyptian leaders on Sudanese issues, especially a newly-signed treaty between the Sudanese government and the rebel Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

The conflicting sides signed Thursday a deal on security issues and other key points that could lead to a final peace accord.

“Both the Sudan government and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army today signed an agreement on security arrangement on redeployment of forces and a joint command structure,” Kenyan envoy and chief mediator Lazarus Sumbeiywo said in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Thursday.

The deal “means a great step forward” and the security arrangements were “one of four outstanding major issues,” Sumbeiywo told Xinhua after witnessing the formal signing of the agreement.

The security arrangements have been the main stumbling block in peace talks in the Kenyan town of Naivasha.

Under the new deal, Sudan will have two armies under separate command and control during a six-year interim period.

The breakthrough followed high-level talks between Taha and SPLA leader John Garang on how each side’s forces will be deployed during a six-year period of self-rule in southern Sudan.

However, the two sides remain far from reaching a comprehensive peace deal, with power sharing, wealth sharing and the status of three contested areas on the north-south border still at issue.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Army has been fighting against the Sudanese Islamic government for greater autonomy for the predominantly Christian and animist south since 1983.