Peace talks on east Sudan due to start next week

Jan 19, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Rebels in eastern Sudan are due to start talks with the government next week on ending conflict in a region that contains the country’s only port, main oil pipeline and largest gold mine.

The talks will start in Libya on Jan. 27, said government officials on Thursday and rebels who claim the area is neglected by Khartoum.

The talks were due to start last week but were delayed after government-allied forces entered the rebel-held area of Hamesh Koreb and clashed with rebels in an area that borders Eritrea.

“We have agreed (to talks) on Jan. 27 in Libya if nothing further happens on the ground,” Eastern Front spokesman Ali el-Safi told Reuters.

The Eastern Front includes both eastern rebel groups and the main political parties in an area impoverished despite its relative economic importance.

Sudanese Information Minister Al-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik said the government would attend the talks, the first with the eastern rebels. “This is confirmed yes,” he said.

Safi said the agenda would be decided during the first session but rebels wanted to discuss a federal system of government and a share in the area’s gold and other resources, which could include natural gas if it is found off the coast.

“These are issues of wealth sharing and will be on the agenda of the talks too,” he said.

Eastern rebels took up arms in the 1990s and have since controlled the small Hamesh Koreb area. They fought alongside former southern rebels, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, who also have troops there.

Under a north-south peace deal signed last year, the SPLM will withdraw its troops from the east and the Sudanese army will replace them.

But eastern rebels have said they would fight the government if they attempted to take over Hamesh Koreb.

Revolts in Sudan’s east and west are not covered by the southern peace deal. There are separate talks between the government and rebels aimed at ending conflict in Darfur in western Sudan.

(Reuters)