Sudan hopes for peace at last

2004-12-31 15:50

Nairobi - The Khartoum government and SPLA rebels were preparing the final stages of a peace deal on Friday to end to the 21- year civil war in the southern region of conflict-plagued Sudan, a Sudanese embassy spokesperson said.

Embassy spokesperson Neimat Bilal said: "Today we will sign an agreement on a permanent ceasefire as well as a treaty annex on power-and wealth-sharing."

Although the signing ceremony in the Kenyan town of Naivasha had been scheduled for mid-afternoon local time, last-minute negotiations were proceeding on Friday.

Bilal said: "There are some touches here and there this morning."

If the last annexes were signed on Friday, it would mark the end of negotiations underway in Kenya since 2002.

Comprehensive peace deal

The treaty does not apply to ongoing violence in western Darfur province, although it was hoped it would serve as a model for those negotiations.

During a special session of the UN Security Council held in Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in November, the Sudanese government and the southern SPLA rebels pledged to finalise a peace agreement by the end of the year.

South African president Thabo Mbeki, currently on a visit to Sudan, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir were scheduled to fly from Khartoum to Nairobi.

There, they were to join the SPLA rebel leader John Garang and Sudanese vice-president Ali Osman Taha for the signing ceremony.

Formal signing of a comprehensive peace deal, putting all the partial agreements together, to officially end of Africa?s longest running war, which has killed two million people and displaced four million, has been scheduled for January 7 in Nairobi.

- AFP