Eastern Sudan peace talks adjourned to 7 August

July 30, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan announced today that the Eritrean brokered Eastern Sudan peace talks will resume on 7 August instead of Monday 31 August. The adjournment was decided after consultation with the mediator.

Presidential Advisor and chairman of government delegation to the East Sudan peace talks, Mustafa Osman Ismail, announced that the resumption of the negotiations is postponed for a week and due to start on the 7th of August.

Ismail said that the postponement is decided after discussions conducted with the Eritrean mediator to enable the government delegation to make more consultations in Khartoum for the next round.

He pointed out that the postponement came after a visit by the Eritrean delegation to Khartoum to hold talks with the Sudanese officials in Khartoum and Juba, pointing that the Eritrean delegation carries a message from the Eritrean President, Isaias Afeworki, to President Al-Bashir.

The Presidential Advisor noted that the government delegation will return Sunday from Asmara, saying the Eritrean mediator began a stage of presenting views on basic principles and then the talks moved to a stage of holding separate meetings with the negotiating delegations and finally the stage of direct dialogue between the two sides in the presence of the mediator.

He said that the next stage is the stage of details and he expects that the Eritrean mediator will put a working paper on the negotiating table.

(ST)