Khartoum says power-sharing deal with SPLA might come this month

ABU DHABI, Jan 10 (AFP) — The Sudanese government hopes to sign a peace deal with southern rebels before the end of January, or within weeks at the latest, Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail said Saturday.

“We hope a power-sharing agreement will be signed before the end of the month, God willing,” he told reporters here.

“This will be determined by negotiations, and even if (the signing) is delayed, it would be for days or weeks at most,” he said during a brief visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Khartoum and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) have failed to meet a self-imposed December 31 deadline to reach a final peace agreement.

On Wednesday, the two sides signed a deal on sharing the oil-rich country’s wealth, a key component of efforts to end 20 years of civil war, but they are still locked in delicate talks over some elements of power-sharing and the future status of three disputed areas in central Sudan.

Ismail said partial agreements with the SPLA would, like the wealth-sharing accord, be signed in the Kenyan town of Naivasha, to be followed by a “framework agreement,” which might be inked in Washington.

Sudan’s chief diplomat held talks here with Deputy Premier and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nahayan and was due to go on to Yemen.