Sudan rebels, mediators resume peace talks in Kenya

NAIROBI, Nov 30, (AFP) — Proximity talks resumed on Sunday between mediators and Sudanese rebels in a town on the Kenyan border with Sudan ahead of face-to-face talks with the Khartoum government, chief mediator Lazaro Sumbeiywo said.

“The peace talks have resumed. We are currently holding consultations with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) delegates in Lokichoggio,” Sumbeiywo said by telephone from Lokichoggio, about km northwest of capital Nairobi.

“Both parties have told me they are willing to reach a comprehensive peace accord,” he said.

Sumbeiywo said he was consulting with SPLA on the sticking points — power- and wealth-sharing and the three conflict regions of Abyei, Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile — before the Khartoum government delegation arrives in Kenya later Sunday evening.

A Sudanese embassy official said that direct negotiations would resume at noon (0900 GMT) on Monday in Kenya’s Rift Valley town of Naivasha.

The SPLA rebels have fought Khartoum forces since 1983 to end domination of the mainly Christian and animist south by the Arabised, Muslim north in a war that has killed at least 1.5 million people and displaced more than four million.