Sudan to sign final peace agreement soon, El-Beshir says
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 18, 2003 (Bernama) — The government of Sudan is expected to sign a comprehensive and final peace agreement with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA) before the end of the year, paving the way for an end to Africa’s longest civil war, Sudanese President Omer Hassan Ahmed El-Bashir said.
El-Bashir said that both sides had overcome major hurdles and differences in their efforts to reach a final and long-lasting settlement to the 20-year conflict.
He said agreement had been reached in areas like relations between the state and religion and self-determination for the south.
The two sides had also signed a key security agreement while differences still existed on the issue of participation in running the country or power-sharing as well sharing the economic wealth.
“We hope (to reach a final agreement) before the end of the year, he told Bernama in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the just-concluded 10th Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Summit at the Putrajaya Convention Centre here.
El-Bashir, who assumed power in 1993, said the government was committed to achieving lasting peace in Africa’s largest country of some 34 million people.
The Sudanese government and the rebels led by John Garang are currently locked in the latest round of peace negotiations in Kenya.
An estimated two million people have been killed since the launch of the war in 1983 by the SPLA which is fighting for greater autonomy in the mainly Christian and animist south.