Sudanese negotiations in Kenya stumble; Khartoum did not send delegation
Sudan, Politics, 1/16/2003

The Sudanese government stuck to its position concerning the agenda of peace negotiations which were due to be resumed yesterday in Kenya, by refusing demands raised by the the rebels and the mediators on negotiating on the future of the three "margined" areas, namely al-Nouba, Eibi and the south of the Blue Nile. This position by the Sudanese government raised speculation that the session was postponed indefinitely.

The Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir did not send a delegation to take part in the session to resume negotiations, and thereby stuck to the position declared by Khartoum on resuming the negotiations from the point it ended in November 2002 on the issues of sharing authority and resources.

However, the Sudanese government dispatched its ambassador to Nairobi Ali al-Numeiri to the session, where he held a press conference in which he announced that the talks will not be resumed unless an agreement on its agenda will be agreed to by all sides concerned, noting that the three said areas are situated within Northern Sudan and both the negotiations or the rebels have nothing to do with this issue.

The mediators including the Kenyan foreign minister and the rebels spent the morning at the site of the negotiations predicting whether the government delegation will attend. Ali al-Numeiri arrived before the set date for the beginning of the meeting and read a statement in which he said "our delegation is ready to head for Nairobi as soon as it receives an invitation for the meeting." He added "that making the issue of the three areas the main topic for the discussions and convening this meeting despite the repeated messages addressed by the government calling for convening it, is enough evidence that the atmosphere of confidence is collapsing continuously."

For his part, the spokesman for the rebels, Samson Kawaji, said that the "Sudan People's Liberation Army (rebels) hopes to solve the problems quickly and to reset the talks into the rightful track." He added "we are here.. Our delegation is here. If the government comes, welcome for it.. I think they ( the government) should come. Consultations are continuous and we do hope there will be a solution for the situation."

Previous Stories:
  Khartoum to boycott peace negotiations if it will to discuss marginal areas   (1/14/2003)
  Al-Ayam: No change in American policy towards Sudan   (1/14/2003)
  Rebels attack Sudanese army as Ethiopia and Yemen FMs meet   (1/13/2003)

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