IGAD convenes a meeting today to discuss a peaceful solution in Sudan

The extraordinary summit of the states of the government's organization for development in East Africa ( IGAD) will convene a meeting today to discuss the question of war in Southern Sudan.

Taking part in this summit which will be hosted by the President of Kenya in his capacity as the chairman of the five- member committee in charge of the Sudanese file, each of the Ugandan President Yuri Museveini, Eritrea President Asyas Afourki, President of Djibouti Ismael Omar Gelli, Ethiopia's Prime minister Meles Zenawi and the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Nairobi extended an invitation to attend the summit for the leader of the rebellions in Southern Sudan John Garang. The Ugandan presidency said that Mouseivini will be meeting with his Sudanese counterpart, al-Bashir on the side line of the summit, in order to complete talks from their previous meeting held in Kampala and resulted in normalizing relations between the two sides.

Diplomatic sources in al-Khartoum said that IGAD seeks to make a breakthrough in the question of war in Southern Sudan through urging the two conflicting sides to cease fire and accelerate the negotiations in order to reach a peaceful settlement that puts an end to the civil war which goes back to 18 years.