Sudan ready to sign peace deal with south: Beshir

KHARTOUM, Oct 3 (AFP) — Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir said he was ready to sign a peace deal with southern rebels and that he did not want to govern the country alone.

The Khartoum government “is ready to sign the peace agreement today rather than tomorrow,” Beshir said in a speech to the Sudanese Women’s Union.

The declaration follows accusations by Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) rebel leader John Garang that Khartoum was dragging its feet in finalizing a peace deal to end the 21-year-old civil war in the south of the country in order to make as much money as possible from booming oil exports.

It has been agreed that oil revenues will be shared between the north and the south once a peace deal is reached.

Beshir went on to say that he did not want to rule the country alone.

“We do not want to maintain power alone,” said Beshir, adding that his government intends to stop the war to enable the people to “exercise free democracy”.

He dismissed as “meaningless” talk about autonomy being granted to Darfur, where up to 50,000 people have died in a 19-month-old conflict between rebels and government forces.

“Any talk about self-rule in Darfur is meaningless as every state has powers within the present federal system to which the government will remain committed,” said Beshir.