Sudan sees southern peace deal signed in August

KHARTOUM, May 31 (Reuters) – The Sudanese government and southern rebels will sign a final peace deal in August after talks to iron out remaining disagreements, First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha said on Monday.

A deal would end Africa’s oldest war which has killed some two million people in a 21-year fight broadly pitting rebels from the animist and Christian south against the Arab-Muslim dominated north.

Taha told parliament previously agreed accords would be signed in Nairobi in the coming days.

He added the signing will be followed by detailed talks in the final week of June on remaining issues including the fate of the two sides’ military forces and peace monitors.

“The two delegations will then discuss political arrangements and the schedule for the implementation of the agreement until they reach the final signing in August,” said Taha, who is also head of Khartoum’s negotiating team.

Kenyan mediators said last week a final peace deal could be concluded within two months.

Taha is holding the talks with John Garang, the leader of southern rebels of the Sudan’s People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

After 10 years of on-off peace efforts, this year’s talks have yielded detailed accords on a six-month interim period leading to a six-year power-sharing transition, after which the south will be able to hold a referendum on secession.

The process, sponsored by regional and Western governments, does not involve factions in Sudan’s other conflicts, notably the western Darfur region which the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.