Sudan peace talks round extended to March 22

NAIROBI, March 16 (Reuters) – Sudan’s government and southern rebels are to extend peace talks for a few more days to tackle issues of power sharing and the status of three disputed areas, mediators said on Tuesday.

The current round of talks had originally been scheduled to end on Tuesday. “The talks will not adjourn today, they are going to continue,” chief mediator Lazarus Sumbeiywo said.

Sudanese vice president Ali Osman Taha rejoined peace talks with the leader of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) John Garang last week, on his return from Khartoum where he held consultations with President Omar al-Bashir.

Sources said the talks had been extended to Monday next week to allow the two parties to discuss the outstanding issues of power sharing and the status of the three contested areas of the Southern Blue Nile, Abyei and the Nuba Mountains.

Delegates said progress in the latest round of talks which began on February 17 had been slow, and had stuck on the status of the oil-rich Abyei region.

Government officials say they suspect the rebels are trying to annex Abyei in preparation for eventual secession from the north. Under an agreement reached earlier in the peace talks, southerners will vote in a referendum in six years’ time to decide the future of the south.

Rebels from the largely animist and Christian south have fought for greater autonomy from the Islamist government in the Arab speaking north for 20 years. Disputes over oil, ethnicity and ideology have complicated the conflict.