Nigerian mediation fails to resume the negotiations; Garang refuses to meet al-Bashir deputy

Khartoum announced yesterday that the leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, John Garang, refused to meet with the first deputy of the Sudanese President Ali Othman Taha as it was scheduled in Nigeria yesterday.

An official statement issued by the Sudanese TV yesterday and signed by the presidential advisor for peace Ghazi Salah Eddin al-Atabani did not indicate the reasons behind this decision despite the efforts made by the Nigerian President to this effect.

The government's delegation which includes al-Atabani, and the Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Othman Ismael yesterday headed for Aboja to meet with Garang who arrived on Wednesday to the capital to meet with Nigeria's President.