Former southern rebels in Khartoum for peace implementation talks

KHARTOUM, April 3 (AFP) — A large delegation of former south Sudanese rebels arrived in Khartoum Sunday for talks with the government on implementing the peace accord that ended more than two decades of civil war, a spokesman said.

Taha and Garng after the signature of thr Agreement on Security Arrangements, September 26, 2003 .

The 106-strong delegation “will have talks with officials of the government and (ruling) National Congress on preparations for implementing the peace agreement, including drafting a transitional constitution,” Abdullah Abbas said.

The spokesman for the former rebel movement, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, said the delegation arrived in the Sudanese capital on a Libyan aircraft and was headed by the group’s secretary general, James Wani.

The talks, the most comprehensive since the January 9 peace agreement, will also include members of the National Democratic Alliance, an opposition umbrella group now mainly confined to northern political parties.

As it transforms itself from a rebel organisation into a political party, the SPLM has established several offices in the capital as well as the provinces.