U.S. envoy Snyder supporting efforts to end Sudan civil war

‏WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2003 (KUNA) — Acting Assistant Secretary for African Affairs ‏‏Charles R. Snyder is travelling between Sudan and Kenya, working with parties ‏‏to support efforts to end the civil war in Sudan, Adam Ereli, deputy spokesman ‏‏at the State Department, said on Thursday.‏

‏”There are talks under way between the Sudanese People’s Liberation ‏Front and the government of Sudan to resolve what is the world’s ‏‏longest-running and one of the world’s most costly — in terms of life and ‏‏treasure — civil wars”, Ereli said during a State Department briefing.

“Those ‏‏parties have committed to reach an agreement by the end of December.”‏

‏Those commitments have recently been reiterated in meetings and telephone ‏‏conversations involving Secretary of State Colin Powell, Ereli said, and ‏‏Snyder is in the region “working with the parties to facilitate this ‏‏agreement, and efforts continue apace.”‏

Powell met two weeks ago with Dr. John Garang de Mabior, chairman and ‏‏commander-in-chief of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Sudan ‏‏People’s Liberation Army, Ereli said, and Powell last week had conversations ‏‏with negotiators involved in the Sudan talks