Al-Jazeera: Rebels deny Washington's intervention to suspend Sudan's talks

The spokesman for southern rebels in Sudan, Yasser Araman, has denied any American intervention that resulted in suspending peace negotiations with the government. He said that dialogue is taking place directly between the Sudanese.

In a statement to the Qatari al-Jazeera TV yesterday, Araman said that the idea of suspending the negotiations was created during the visit of the US Secretary Of State Colin Powell to Kenya's Nivasha resort, where the two sides decided to define stances concerning main points of difference.

He indicated that the idea of sharing power and resources is a very difficult issue by its nature. He explained that the progress attained concerning these issues was not that big. He considered that the interest of the Sudanese people is the relevant factor in deciding the time required to reach an agreement.

The talks held in Nivasha between the Sudanese (First) Vice President Ali Othman Taha and the leader of southern rebels John Garang were suspended until November 30, because of the fall of the holy month of Ramadan. Garang said that what has been achieved during this session is a decisive matter for the coming round of talks over which he expressed hope to be the last.

Colin Powel met with the delegations representing the two sides in an attempt to give talks a push forward. He expected the talks in Nivasha to reach a comprehensive peace by the end of the current year.