Garang to become Sudan vice president: minister

PARIS, Jan 20 (AFP) — The leader of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), John Garang, will become vice president of the north African country, a minister said Tuesday as the two sides move closer to a final peace deal to end 20 years of civil war.

Sudan’s Energy Minister Awad Ahmed El-Gaz told a Paris news conference that the government had proposed presidential control over the disputed oil-rich Abyei district.

Gaz said this means Abyei will be controlled by President Omar al-Beshir and Garang “as he will be vice president”.

Expectations have been mounting that the Sudanese government and the SPLA will soon sign a comprehensive peace deal after a key wealth-sharing agreement was signed earlier this month.

Talks have been ongoing about power-sharing and the status of three disputed regions.

While agreement has nearly been reached on the central Nuba mountains and southern Blue Nile State, according to negotiators, there had been little progress on resolving the status of the Abyei district.

The SPLA has been at war with Khartoum since 1983 and the conflict has claimed more than 1.5 million lives and displaced some four million people.

Wealth and resources have played a key role in the war and have come to overshadow its ethnic, religious and political roots.