- Title: KENYA/SUDAN/UGANDA: SUDANESE PEACE TALKS COLLAPSE.
- Date: 4th September 2002
- Summary: (W7) KAPOETA, SOUTHERN SUDAN (FILE - JUNE 11, 2002) 1. GV/MV: SUDAN PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY (SPLA) AND SUDAN PEOPLE'S LIBERATION MOVEMENT (SPLM) SOLDIERS SINGING PRAISE SONGS AT CAMP (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. GV/MV: SUDAN PEOPLE'S LIBERATION MOVEMENT SOLDIERS GUARDING BODIES; BLOATED BODY/ PEOPLE LOOKING (2 SHOTS) 0.19 3. GV: SOLDIER WALKING PAST
- Embargoed: 19th September 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NAIROBI, KENYA/ KAMPALA, UGANDA/ KAPOETA, SOUTHERN SUDAN
- City:
- Country: Sudan Uganda Kenya
- Reuters ID: LVA5RR6ANVQ4FMVLAVBRAUC3FUDQ
- Story Text: Sudan is gearing up for fresh fighting as the
government and rebels traded blame over the collapse of
landmark talks to end Africa's longest-running civil war.
Sudan's government suspended the negotiations on Monday
(September 2) and ordered a general mobilisation of the army
after rebels seized the strategic town of Torit, their biggest
battlefield victory in two months.
The government and rebels swapped mutual recriminations
over the breakdown of the talks, which had been viewed by
analysts as the best chance of ending a conflict that has
killed an estimated two million people.
The Charge D'affaires at the Sudan Embassy in Nairobi,
Ahmed Dirdeiry, gave Reuters his governments reasons for
withdrawing, accusing the SPLA of aggression.
"You may remember that the SPLM had in fact started its
current offensive earlier this year, it had captured the town
of Kapoeta before the first round of Machakos, and right now
is capturing Torit. It in fact had put all of Southern Sudan
under fire, it also started some offensive in Upper Nile with
the view to closing down the oil installations over there."
Said Dirdeiry.
The rebels, based in the south, which is largely animist
with some Christians and Muslims, have been fighting since
1983 for more autonomy from the Muslim-dominated north.
Their spokesman Samson Kwaje said the issue of Sharia law
wass part of the stumbling blocks in the negotiations.
"So we are proposing that if they want to maintain
Khartoum as the capital of the Sudan during the interim
period, then it should be free of Sharia. Otherwise we can
have a new capital territory that will accommodate all of us."
Said Kwaje.
He also accused the government of duplicity in the talks.
"On the 15th of last month the Government went on a
general offensive, they were attacking actually bombarding our
areas, they bombarded the whole of Northern Bahr-el Ghazal
particularly Aweil East, Aweil West counties. They also
bombarded Southern Upper Nile mostly the Bor area, between Bor
and Juba, they have been bombarding this seriously. Of course
you know that for Western Upper Nile it is on daily basis,
that is where the oil fields are." He added.
Mediators at the talks in the Kenyan town of Machakos said
both sides had made strides during previous rounds and the
peace process was far from over.
"The reasons cited by the Government of Sudan are due
largely to circumstances beyond the negotiating table. It
should be noted that the current break in the talks does not
signal an end to the Sudan peace process and the Sudan
initiative." said Kenya's Sudan envoy, Lazarus Sumbeiywo.
Hopes for a peace deal rose in July, when the government
and rebels reached a landmark accord allowing southerners to
opt for secession after a six-year transition period, and
limiting the application of Islamic sharia law to Muslim areas
only.
The latest round of talks had aimed to build on the accord
by confronting outstanding issues such as power-sharing,
dividing up Sudan's oil wealth and agreeing a ceasefire.
But while mediators struggled to find common ground between
the two sides, the government accused the rebels of
undermining the July agreement by launching military
offensives.
The rebels denied the allegations, saying their capture of
Torit, a major garrison town, at the weekend had simply been a
response to a government offensive.
CAH/
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