Sudan’s president, first deputy agree to resume discussions on peace implementation
November 29, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese president and his first deputy reaffirmed the resumption of dialogue between the two peace partners in order to end stalemate in the implementation of a peace deal signed in 2005 to end two decades of war.
Following an expected meeting, president Omer al-Bashir and the frist vice-president Salva Kiir reiterated their commitment to resume discussions on the pending issues in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
The two leaders announced that a six-member committee charged to discuss the implementation of the peace agreement will hold meetings during the next Saturday and Sunday.
The official SUNA news agency quoted presidential press secretary Mahjoub Fadul, as saying Thursday following the meeting that the discussions were cordial, extensive, light-hearted at times and conducted in a very good atmosphere.
He further said “We can say that differences were dissipated and we would see in the coming hours progress in the different issues.”
Mahjoub reported that Salva Kiir said “The National Congress Party and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement are responsible of the signed agreement and have no alternative to peace.”
He further indicated that the six-member committee will resume non stop meetings and things are become clear.
The high level six-member panel suspended its meeting on November 11 following disagreement on the competence of the committee over Abyei. Formed after the SPLM withdrawal from the federal government, the panel had to discuss the issue of Abyei, north-south border demarcation and troops redeployment.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) suspended the participation of its ministers in the national unity government to protest what they described as lack of action by the ruling National Congress party in the implementation of the CPA that.
(ST)