Sudan refugees protest in Kenyan capital over delay of peace deal

NAIROBI, April 29 (AFP) — Several hundred refugees and civil society leaders from southern Sudan on Thursday demonstrated in the Kenyan capital over a delay in clinching a final deal to end Africa’s longest running conflict.

They carried banners that called for a speedy delivery of a deal to halt the conflict that erupted in 1983 and has claimed at least 1.5 million lives and displaced more than four million people.

The current round of talks between Sudan’s Vice President Ali Osman Taha and Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) leader John Garang, is deadlocked on whether Islamic law should apply to Muslims and non-Muslims alike in Khartoum during a six-year transition period before a referendum on self-determination is held for the south.

“Both parties and particularly the government of Sudan are well known for creating such menaces and even walk-outs to the disappointment of people who expect nothing less than a just, fair and lasting solution to the violent conflict,” said a statement issued by 41 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in south Sudan.

In previous rounds of talks, the two sides agreed to equally share national resources and Khartoum agreed to withdraw its troops from southern positions to pave the way for the creation of integrated army units.

The demonstrators included members of the New Sudan Indigenous NGOs Network, who expressed concern about the situation in the western Darfur region, where a separate 14-month old conflict is estimated to have claimed around 10,000 people and displaced up to a million people in little more than a year.

“The people of Darfur deserve peace. All human rights violations and atrocities being committed now must be stopped and humanitarian assitance be delivered to avert a humanitarian crisis,” the statement added.