Final Sudan peace talks may be extended: mediator

NAIROBI, Mar 15, 2004 (Xinhua) — The current negotiations between Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha and rebel leader John Garang due to end in Kenya Tuesday may be extended till a deal is reached, a chief mediator disclosed here on Monday.

“We have a lot of outstanding issues to be discussed. I think we are going to extend the duration of the negotiations, but I have to consult the parties first before I make this decision,” Kenyan mediator Lazarus Sumbeiywo told Xinhua by telephone.

He said although Tuesday’s deadline for the conclusion of the current round of talks still stood, but he would not say whether an agreement by the parties on all the outstanding issues would have been reached by then.

The current round of Sudan peace talks is trying to forge an agreement on who rules Abyei and two other contested areas, claimed by both sides, and on how to share power once the longest- running civil war in Africa comes to an end.