Sudanese peace talks resumed after a short suspension

The Sudanese government and the southern rebels resumed peace negotiations in Nivasha, Kenya, after a one day suspension on the occasion of the new year celebration and Sudan's independence.

In press statements, the chairman of the mediation group Lazaraos Simbayo said that the Sudanese Vice President, Ali Othman Taha, and the leader of the southern rebels, John Garang, resumed negotiations on Friday morning, in a new attempt to finalize a comprehensive peace agreement after their failure to achieve this objective by the end of 2003.

A source close to the negotiations said earlier that the two sides had actually agreed on several issues relating to al-Nouba and the Blue Nile mountains, including that these areas would enjoy self-rule, and to have a special ruler, and to have supervision over education and taxation process in it." The source explained that as for Eibi, the government wants to have a referendum, while southern rebels desire to return back this area to southern Sudan.

The two sides also discussed the situation of the capital, in case of continued implementation of the Islamic Sharia during the provisional period, during which a unified provisional government will rule in Khartoum. The two sides reached in December, 2003 an initial agreement to share the wealth, especially oil resources. Worthy mentioning that the inter- Sudanese conflict, which is the longest in the African continent which goes back to 1983, resulted in killing 1.5 million and the displacement of 4 million.