Khartoum expects negotiations resumption with the rebels

The Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Othman Ismael said he expects the resumption of negotiations between the government and the southern rebels, due to the escalated international pressures on the two sides.

On Sunday evening Ismael told journalists that the "current war and the progress achieved in Mashakos created an international interest in Sudan, and thereby international pressures to halt the fighting and resume the negotiations." He said that the seizure of the Sudan People's Liberation Army of the strategic city of Tourit by the beginning of September will not obstruct negotiations between the two sides, considering that what had happened in Tourit was "just a step backward and negotiations can be resumed despite that." On Friday the rebels proposed a temporary cease fire on all the Sudanese territories with the objective to resume the negotiations which were suspended after controlling Tourit.

Khartoum welcomed that proposal but stressed that the resumption of negotiations will be linked to that sides concerned honoring their obligations approved in Mashakos agreement which was signed on July 20, and honoring cease fire during the negotiation process.