Second round of Sudanese dialogue goes well in Cairo: envoy

CAIRO, Oct 24, 2004 (Xinhua) — Sudanese Ambassador to Egypt Ahmad Abdel Halim said Sunday that the second round of dialogue between the Sudanese government and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)was going well in Cairo, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported.

Halim was quoted as saying that the talks were characterized by a spirit of “national responsibility and cordiality”.

The two sides showed keenness and resolve to make the negotiations a success and to hammer out a peace agreement, he added.

The Sudanese government and the NDA held a procedural session in Cairo in August and reached an agreement on holding direct talks with a set agenda.

The second round of dialogue between the two sides here late Thursday.

The NDA is an umbrella group including southern Sudanese rebels and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), one of the two main rebel groups in Sudan’s western Darfur region.

NDA spokesman Hatem el-Ser told MENA before the start of the second round of dialogue that the negotiations would be conducted through four committees covering constitutional, legal, economic and political issues.

The latest dialogue in Cairo coincides with a new round of talks between Khartoum and the Darfur rebels which opened on Thursday in Abuja.

According to a UN report, the 20-month Darfur conflict has so far claimed many lives with many more displaced.