Khartoum, rebels agree on wealth-sharing
NAIROBI, Dec 20 (AFP) — Representatives of Sudan’s government and those of main rebel group have reached an agreement on the sharing of oil wealth, paving the way for a comprehensive peace accord, Kenya’s Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka said.
“I am getting information that they have agreed on wealth-sharing,” Musyoka told AFP, referring to the deal reached between Sudan’s government and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in the Kenyan town of Naivasha.
He said that he would travel from Nairobi to Naivasha, 80 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of the capital, on Sunday for the expected signing of the agreement.
“There has been agreement on the wealth-sharing,” but final details are still being worked out, an SPLA delegate to the talks, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
Asked to confirm that a deal on wealth-sharing had in fact been reached, chief mediator Lazaro Sumbeiywo, a retired Kenyan army general said: “They are still drafting.”
Sumbeiywo is the chairman of a team of mediators from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which groups Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and, nominally, Somalia.
The delegations at the talks are being led by Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and SPLA leader John Garang, who have been meeting face-to-face since December 7.
Taha and Garang committed themselves to reach a final peace deal before the end of this year when US Secretary of State Colin Powell met them both in Naivasha in October.
In Washington on Friday, the State Department urged the two sides to live up to their commitment to reach a peace accord by month end.
“We are urging them to meet their commitment,” said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.
As well as wealth-sharing — notably of the country’s lucrative onstream oil reserves — the agenda of the current round of the talks also covers power-sharing and the status of three disputed regions in central Sudan — Abyei, the Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile.
“From the wealth-sharing, we are going to get into the three areas with the same momentum,” an SPLA spokesman said.
Sudan’s civil war erupted again in 1983 — after the collapse of a 1972 peace accord — under which the south, where most people observe traditional religions or Christianity, rose up to end their domination by successive Islamic governments in Khartoum.
The conflict, which has killed at least 1.5 million people and displaced more than four million, has been increasingly driven by Sudan’s natural resources, notably oil.
Sudan currently produces around 300,000 barrels of oil a day which accounts for 43 percent of government revenue, according to the energy and mines ministry.
In September both sides reached a deal on transitional security, under which the government would withdraw its troops from the southern positions.
Under another agreement signed in Kenya in July last year, the south will enjoy autonomy from Khartoum for six years, following which a referendum will be held to determine whether the south will secede or remain part of Sudan.
The six-year interim period will come into effect once a comprehensive peace agreement is signed.