Kampala, Khartoum towards resuming relations
The Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and his Ugandan counterpart Mousivini on Wednesday signed an agreement on the security of joint borders between their two countries. If implemented, the agreement will permit the restoration of the diplomatic relations severed between the two countries since 1994.
Meanwhile, the commission of the leadership of the opposition Sudanese Democratic National alliance failed to convene a session for its second meeting on Wednesday in Kampala after the opening ceremony held on Tuesday revealed sharp divisions among its members concerning initiatives debated for negotiations with the Sudanese government.
A spokesman for the Carter center, which has Atlanta as a headquarters, said in a telephone call with the London-based al-Hayat daily that the mediation, which was led by former US President Jimmy Carter and Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi, resulted on Wednesday in the signing by al-Bashir and Museveni of an agreement that states that both the Sudanese and Ugandan authorities are to take measures on exchanging prisoners of war, freeing the kidnapped held by opposition forces in the two countries and returning them to their families, and to stopping backing for armed opposition groups in the two countries.
The spokesman stated that the two presidents vowed the implementation of items of the agreement in preparation for restoring diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In Kampala, the chairman of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement, Col. John Garang, said that the agreement between al-Bashir and Museveni will not affect his movement because his relations with Uganda are strategic, and his forces are working from inside Sudan and do not start from Uganda.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Democratic National Alliance failed in holding a session set for Tuesday night because of the commitment of the Ummah (nation) Party to an agreement signed with al-Bashir in Djibouti.
In light of the tensions which prevailed the circles of the opposition, the delegation of the DNA inside Sudan, which for the first time takes part in the meetings, decided to make consultations in order to reach a median solution between the Djibouti agreement (between Ummah leader al-Sadeq al-Mahdi and al-Bashir) and IGAD's peace initiative.