Mediators prepare for new round of talks on Sudan’s civil war in the south

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Aug 11, 2004 (AP) — Two Kenyan mediators for Sudan’s 21-year civil war arrived in the capital Tuesday to prepare for a new round of peace talks, the official Sudan News Agency reported.

Chief mediator Gen. Lazaro Sumbeiywo and former Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka are expected to discuss with Sudanese government officials the future security arrangements between the national army and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army, SUNA said.

Sumbeiywo and Musyoka are also scheduled to meet SPLA leaders at a later date.

No date has been set for the next round of talks. Negotiations broke off last month in Naivasha, Kenya, after failing to reach agreement on a permanent cease-fire to the conflict in southern and eastern Sudan.

However, the organization hosting the talks, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, said the two sides did reach “important understandings” on a cease-fire date, the monitoring of a cease-fire, and the composition of a joint defense board.

The conflict between the southern-based SPLA and the government is separate to the 18-month rebellion in Sudan’s western province of Darfur, where a counter-insurgency has been blamed for the displacement of a million people.