Sudan foes agree to reach final accord “as soon as possible”

By Al-Sahafah daily newspaper

KHARTOUM, Jan 10, 2004 — The SPLM [Sudan People’s Liberation Movement] official spokesman, Yasir Arman, has revealed that two days ago the vice-president, Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha, and the SPLM leader, John Garang, agreed to intensify meetings to resolve the pending issues as soon as possible, taking advantage of the positive climate brought forward by the signing of the wealth accord.

Arman told Al-Sahafah that during this stage, the meetings would focus on the issue of the three [disputed ] regions (Abyei, the Nuba mountains, and Southern Blue Nile).

He said the two leaders started to implement the agreement from yesterday, pointing out that Taha and Garang had already held three meetings to discuss the issue of the three regions.

Arman expressed his hope that a final and comprehensive peace agreement would be reached as soon as possible.

BBC Monitoring Middle East