American officials discuss peace, humanitarian relief in Sudan

KHARTOUM, Feb 11 (AFP) — Two visiting senior US officials met with senior members of the Khartoum government for talks on efforts to secure peace and ensure humanitarian assistance in Sudan, government sources said.

US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Charles Snyder and Sudanese First Vice President Ali Osman Taha discussed the status of peace talks between the Khartoum government and southern rebels, and ways to push them forward, officials said.

US Agency for International Development (USAID) assistant administrator Roger Winter, who met separately with Sudanese Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs Mohamed Yusuf Abdallah, expressed Washington’s dismay at the slow progress of the negotiations, the Sudanese minister said.

The Khartoum government is due to resume talks with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in the Kenyan town of Naivasha next week, in a bid to hammer out an agreement on power sharing.

Although Khartoum and the SPLA have reached a deal to split Sudan’s wealth, particularly oil revenues, the two sides remain deadlocked on several key areas, including power sharing and the future status of three disputed regions.

The civil war in Sudan, Africa’s largest nation, erupted in 1983 between the south, where most observe traditional African religions and Christianity, and the Muslim, Arabized north.

The conflict and war-related famine and disease have claimed at least 1.5 million lives and displaced an estimated four million people, mostly in the south.

Winter also expressed concerns about delays in getting humanitarian assistance to the people in Sudan’s restive western Darfur region, which he toured during his visit, Abdallah told reporters.

Beshir announced Monday that the army had crushed a year-old rebellion in Darfur — a claim rejected by one of three rebel groups active in the region. Beshir also declared a general amnesty for rebels who surrender their arms.