Sudan to hold talks with eastern group in Eritrea

By Mayen Deng

May 12, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A Sudanese government delegation including Mustafa Osman Ismail, the Presidential Advisor, and Malik Agar, the Federal Minister of Investment, will leave on Monday for the Eritrean capital, Asmara, to participate in the East negotiations.

The head of the delegation, Ismail, in press statement issued yesterday at the NCP headquarters, said that the delegation will confer with the East Front for the objectives of reactivating the power-sharing and security arrangements protocols, adding that the government is probing venues for implementing the east agreement.

Sudanese government and the eastern Sudan rebel group signed a peace agreement on October 14, 2006, but the implementation of this deal is delayed due to splits among the factions of East Front.

The East Front was created in 2005 by the Rashidiya Arabs and the region’s largest ethnic group, the Beja, after 11 years of low-level insurgency against the Khartoum government.

He further said that the visit comes within the context of conveying a message from President Bashir to the Eritrean President Afworki, related to aspects of the Darfur issue that had been discussed during Afworki’s recent visit to Khartoum.

Ismail on the other hand stated that the government was pressured into signing the Abuja deal with the SLM/Minawi faction by the British government, represented in its Foreign Ministers, though, he suggested that, it would have been better to resume the talks until all the factions have signed.

In response to a query regarding statements he was reported to have made in respect of taking local proceedings against Haroun and Kushayb, Ismail denied that h had made any statements to that effect and affirmed that the government will not hand over the two indicates.

(ST)