Sudan talks delicately poised, accord possible

By Wangui Kanina

NAIVASHA, Kenya, Dec 21 (Reuters) – Sudan’s government reported progress in talks with rebel foes on sharing oil wealth on Sunday but said it was difficult to gauge when an agreement on the topic would be signed.

Such an accord would clear a key hurdle in ending the conflict in Africa’s biggest country, which has killed two million people and uprooted four million since it began in 1983.

“We (both parties) have decided that during the interim period 50 percent of revenues from the oil produced in south Sudan will go to the SPLA,” government spokesman Said al-Khatib told Reuters, referring to the rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.

“There are other pressing issues on wealth sharing such as the central bank and oil commissions among others which are still being discussed,” he said. “We are talking but it is very difficult to say when we will sign an agreement (on wealth sharing).”

Sudan’s main oil fields Heglig and Unity are in the south, where the SPLA is based. The country exports 300,000 barrels of oil per day.

SPLA officials declined to comment on Khatib’s remarks.

Khatib was referring to a six-year interim period that both sides have agreed will follow a final peace deal. At the end of it southerners will have a right to a referendum on secession.

The SPLA negotiators said they would not go into details about the talks but added without elaborating that negotiations on wealth sharing were continuing.

Kenya’s Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka had said on Saturday that both sides were likely to sign a wealth sharing agreement on Sunday, but diplomats monitoring the talks said on Sunday that they expected an agreement to take a little longer.

Some said Tuesday now appeared a more likely date.

Nearly two years of talks between the northern government and southern SPLA rebels have produced deals on some issues, but sharing wealth is one of three outstanding topics.

The latest round of peace talks between the government and SPLA began in early 2002. They have already agreed on splitting state and religion, forming a postwar army and letting the south hold a referendum on independence after the interim period.

The main outstanding issues are sharing wealth, dividing power, and the status of three contested areas.

Mediators, especially the United States, have been putting pressure on both sides to get a final deal covering all issues by the end of the year, even if it is only a framework accord.