Sudanese negotiations in Washington this week

Meetings for the Sudanese government with a delegation representing the Sudanese opposition led by Jon Garang will start in Washington this week, according to the Sudanese charge de affairs in Washington Khuder Haroun.

Haroun, meantime, stressed that the Sudanese government delegation which headed for the US yesterday will concentrate in the unofficial negotiations with the rebels of south Sudan on the two issues of sharing resources and authority.

Haroun said that the delegation will also meet with officials at the US Department of State and the Congress. The delegation is composed of five persons and is led by the minister of state, Idris Muhammad Abdul Qader.

The delegation, however, is not authorized to reach an agreement, as Khartoum announced by the end of the week.

These negotiations fall in the context of preparations to resume the negotiations which stopped in Kenya on November 18, in which the two sides agreed to the principle of organizing general elections during a provisional period of six years and also agreed to extend a truce which was reached in October.