SPLM/A leader to visit Egypt for talks over Sudan’s peace process

CAIRO, Aug 25, 2004 (Xinhua) — John Garang, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), will visit Egypt soon for talks over Sudan’s peace process, a source of the Sudanese Embassy in Cairo said Wednesday.

The source said that Garang would fly to Cairo after he finishes his visit to the United States.

“The two visits are aimed at informing countries concerned of the latest developments of the peace process in light of an agreement signed between the SPLA and the Khartoum government,” the source said.

On Tuesday, representatives of the Sudanese government and the opposition groups began a meeting in Cairo over ways to achieve peace in the war-torn country.

The meeting was part of preparations to hold a formal round of talks in Cairo in the near future.

The opposition groups include the SPLA in southern Sudan and northern opposition parties.

The Sudanese government and the SPLA signed key peace protocols in the Kenyan town of Naivasha on May 26, on power sharing over Nuba (Kordofan) Mountains, Southern Blue Nile and the area of Abyei, paving the way for a full ceasefire.

At least 1.5 million people have been killed and 4 million others displaced since the war began in 1983.