Arab FMs meeting postponed to make way for Sudan peace deal

CAIRO, Jan 4, 2005 (Xinhua) — Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa said on Tuesday that a planned meeting of Arab foreign ministers will be postponed so that some Arab FMs could fly to Kenya to attend the signing ceremony of a Sudan peace deal, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported.

Moussa was quoted as saying that the meeting, planned for next Sunday, would be postponed for 72 hours so that he and some Arab foreign ministers could attend the signing ceremony of the peace agreement between the Sudanese government and a southern rebel group.

On Friday, the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) inked the last two of eight deals in the Kenyan northwestern town of Naivasha after some two years of negotiations.

The move paved the way for a comprehensive peace agreement between the two sides, which is expected to be signed on Jan. 9 to end Africa’s longest conflict.

A batch of officials, including Moussa and the foreign ministers of Egypt, Libya and Algeria, would attend the signing ceremony.