Eritrea to host Sudanese talks
2006-04-18 17:45
Asmara - Eritrea said on Monday that the Sudanese government had asked it to host talks to end a simmering insurgency in eastern Sudan.
Eritrea's support for rebels led Khartoum to cut diplomatic ties in 2002.
The announcement was posted on the Eritrean information ministry's website on Monday.
The article said an Eritrean delegation went to Khartoum last week for meetings with Sudan's First Vice President Salva Kiir and a committee working on Sudanese-Eritrean relations.
The article, at shabait.com, read: "The high-level committee requested that Eritrea host a dialogue on resolving the east Sudan issue."
Eastern rebels, who have long demanded Eritrea mediate, said they had not been officially informed of any talks.
Abdullah Moussa Abdullah, secretary-general of the Beja Congress, one of the main rebel groups in eastern Sudan, said: "I heard this news from Eritrean television. We have not had any official contacts on this issue."
Relations have warmed slightly
Jamal Ibrahim, spokesperson for the Sudanese foreign ministry, said he had no information about talks with the eastern rebels. He said the situation in the east was regarded as an interior ministry issue.
The article said Eritrea would organise a meeting between Khartoum and eastern rebels at "the earliest possible opportunity".
Relations between the two capitals have warmed slightly since September, when southern Sudanese rebels joined the Khartoum government after a 21-year civil war.
Earlier this month, the two countries said they would send ambassadors to each other's capitals, and in December they were talking about re-opening their border, closed in 2002.
Sudan's anger at Eritrea's support for the eastern rebels led to the border closure and soured ties, strained by accusations that both sides had supported insurgents on each other's territory.