South Sudan peace talks to resume in Cairo in late November

CAIRO, Nov 2, 2004 (Xinhua) — Peace talks between the Sudanese government and the main southern rebel group would resume here in late November aimed at ending Africa’s longest-running civil war, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Sudanese government would restart their talks on Nov. 27, Yasser Arman [photo], spokesman for the SPLM was quoted as saying.

The two sides have been engaged in a string of peace talks for more than two years in Kenya. The last round of talks adjourned on Oct. 16 for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The Sudanese civil war, which started in 1983 when Khartoum tried to imposed Islamic sharia law on the mainly animist south, has killed an estimated 2 million people, mostly through famine and disease.

Oil and ideology have complicated the conflict, which is separate from the war in the western Darfur region that has also brought tremendous international pressure on Khartoum.

The government and the SPLM appeared to be very close to the finish line at the last round of talks in Kenya. They have agreed on six protocols on key political issues, leaving only technical issues on a comprehensive ceasefire and security arrangements to be hammered out.