U.S. hopes Sudan, rebels clinch peace deal this month

WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) – The United States hopes the Sudanese government and rebels in the south can reach a peace settlement this month, finally ending their decades-old civil war, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday.

Washington, which is mediating between the two sides and has offered improved ties and aid to the African nation if a power-sharing accord is implemented, predicted a deal would be reached last year between the Islamist government and the rebels from the Christian and animist south.

But the two sides must still settle competing claims to the Abyei area, Powell said at a congressional hearing where he was pressed to help end a war that has killed 2 million people.

“By the end of March, I hope we will be able to crack this,” he told a House International Relations subcommittee.

Powell said the United States is ready to offer its ideas on breaking the final impasse now that the sides have basically ended disputes over two other areas and hammered out a deal on how to share the country’s oil revenues.

“We are very close. In the days ahead we will be working very hard to try to bring this to a successful conclusion … If we get a comprehensive peace agreement and implementation of a peace agreement, we have a long-range plan as how to re-engage,” he added.

Powell said eventually the United States could establish an embassy in Khartoum.

Despite advances toward peace in southern Sudan, the United States remains concerned about continued fighting in a separate conflict in the west. Washington called on the Sudanese government on Tuesday to disarm militias it backs in the region of Darfur, where it said a humanitarian crisis threatens 1 million people.