Bashir, Garang meet in Nairobi; peace agreement in June

The Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and the leader of the southern rebels, John Garang, have expressed following their meeting in Nairobi yesterday, their hope to reach in June this year a final peace agreement to end a civil war which has been continuous since 20 years.

Chief mediator at the Sudanese peace talks, the Kenyan Lazaro Sombyou, said during a press conference in Nairobi that "President al-Bashir and Dr. Garang expressed altogether their hope to reach a final peace agreement by the end of June 2003." The two sides are due to start a new round of negotiations in Kenya on April 6th. In March the two sides extended the ceasefire for three months in order to facilitate their bilateral negotiations.

Al-Bashir and Garang met for the first time in Uganda in July 2002 after the two sides concluded the Mashakos agreement ( Kenya ) to end the civil war in Sudan.