Sudan rebels welcome partnership with ruling party

KHARTOUM, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Sudanese rebels have welcomed a proposal by the president for them to enter a political partnership with the ruling National Congress Party, a Sudanese newspaper reported on Thursday.

Khartoum and the southern rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) launched fresh peace talks in Kenya on Tuesday aimed at ending a 20-year-old civil war that has killed some two million people.

“We welcome in principle these proposals made by President (Omar Hassan) al-Bashir for a partnership and the formation of a wide national front,” the independent al-Ayam newspaper quoted Deng Alor, an SPLA representative, as saying.

Bashir proposed the National Congress Party seek a partnership with the political wing of the SPLA during a speech on Wednesday. Alor said the two sides had yet to discuss the idea.

The war pits the Islamist government in the north against rebels seeking greater autonomy in the mainly animist and Christian south.

At the last peace talks in Kenya the two sides signed a security deal, clearing a major stumbling block in efforts to end the conflict.