Eastern Sudan peace talks postponed to 16 June
June 12, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Peace talks between the Sudanese government and eastern Sudan rebels, due to start on Tuesday in the Eritrean capital Asmara, have been postponed to Friday 16 June, an official from the rebel movement said.
The negotiations were postponed pending the outcome of a Monday meeting in Khartoum between Eritrean President Assaias Afeworki and Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir.
“President Afeworki is paying the visit to Khartoum mainly to discuss the question of east Sudan and the related negotiations his country will sponsor, and it was decided that the negotiations be postponed until Friday to see what will emerge from Afeworki’s talks with Beshir,” said Mahmud Ghandur of Beja Congress, the largest faction in the rebel Eastern Front.
A Sudanese delegation led by presidential advisor Mustafa Osman Ismail was due in Asmara on Tuesday for talks with the Eastern Front as part of efforts to cement peace across Sudan.
Ismail and Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, who met in Cairo on Sunday, left on Monday for the Libyan capital Tripoli on a surprise one-day visit for talks on issues including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia, an Arab League official said.
Ghandur said the Eastern Front was “optimistic on the success of the negotiations, if the government shows sincerity in reaching a settlement to the conflict”.
Several Libyan-sponsored initiatives failed to bring an end to the sporadic fighting that has plagued Sudan’s eastern states, where the rebels hold a strip of territory along the Eritrean border.
Created last year by the region’s largest ethnic group, the Beja, and Rashidiya Arabs, the Eastern Front has similar aims to its counterparts in Darfur — greater autonomy and control over the area’s resources.
The rebel Justice and Equality Movement, active in Darfur, has also emerged as a key player in eastern Sudan. It demands a seat at the presidency as part of any peace settlement, but has not been invited to the Asmara talks.
A peace accord was signed in January 2005 to end a 21-year-old north-south civil war, and efforts are still under way to stabilise the western region of Darfur after rebels there signed a deal with Khartoum last month.
(ST)