Progress in Sudanese peace negotiations in Kenya

The Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Othman Ismael said on Thursday evening that a progress in the current peace negotiations in Kenya has been attained between the government and the southern.

In a press statement, the minister explained that information coming from Nairobi indicates the realization of progress in the talks and the two sides are embarking on eliminating obstacles impeding them.

Sudan's (First) Vice-President, Ali Othman Muhammad Taha and the leader of the rebels John Garang are in discussion since two weeks in Nivasha, situated 80 Km to the northern west of Nairobi.

The Sudanese minister said that the first vice president contacted President al-Bashir and briefed him on the "developments of the peace process" and that the US Secretary Of State Colin Powell telephoned the president and discussed with him "developments of the current peace process." He expressed his hope that the two sides will reach an agreement.

Last Thursday Ismael said in Dakar that a peace agreement will be signed "within two days." News reports from Kenya say that the discussions are blocked by several issues, which are security arrangements, partitions of resources and the authority and supervising three remote areas in the south, where the rebels' army is deployed. They are Aybi, al-Nouba mountain and the Blue Nile.