Peace agreement should include N’djamena truce: Sudanese govt

KHARTOUM, Sept 7, 2004 (Xinhua) — A Sudanese government negotiator insisted that the ceasefire agreement reached in N’djamena in April should be included in a future peace agreement, the Sudanese Media Center (SMC) reported Tuesday.

Sudanese government chief negotiator Majzoub Al Khalifa was quoted by SMC as saying that a draft security arrangement prepared by the African Union (AU) should include the N’djamena ceasefire agreement.

He added that the draft should also include the resolutions of the AU summit on July 8 in Addis Ababa, a deal between the Sudanese government and UN secretary general Kofi Annan and the Darfur Action Plan signed by the government and the UN secretary general’s envoy to Sudan last month.

“The government delegation was insisting on including these points in the draft to make sure that any prospective agreement that will possibly be reached with the rebels does not contradict with these previous deals,” Majzoub said.

However, the chief negotiator stated that the draft has neglected some essential points, which were considered by the government as very significant to maintain security in Darfur.

It has not made any determination on the disarmament of rebels and other militias, he said.

To resolve the Darfur crisis, the Sudanese government and the rebel groups have been engaged in peace talks in the Nigerian capital of Abuja for the past three weeks but achieved little progress.