KENYA/SUDAN: PEACE TALKS TO END CONFLICT IN SUDAN END WITHOUT CEASEFIRE BUT BOTH SIDES AGREE TO MORE TALKS

Record ID: 350295

  • Title: KENYA/SUDAN: PEACE TALKS TO END CONFLICT IN SUDAN END WITHOUT CEASEFIRE BUT BOTH SIDES AGREE TO MORE TALKS
  • Date: 8th May 1998
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (MAY 7, 1998) (RTV) 1. GV NAIROBI CITY SKYLINE (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. SLV INTERIOR NEWS CONFERENCE 0.19 3. SCU RIAK MACHAR SAYING "THE AGREEMENT ON FREE ACCESS OF HUMANITARIAN AID TO THE PEOPLE OF SOUTHERN SUDAN WAS A FUNDAMENTAL PART OF THIS AGREEMENT." (ENGLISH) 0.36 4. SCU ALI ALHAJ, SUDANESE GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL SAYING "IF THE
  • Embargoed: 23rd May 1998 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NAIROBI, KENYA/ PANCIER/THIET, SOUTHERN SUDAN
  • City:
  • Country: AFRICA Sudan Kenya
  • Reuters ID: LVAE9T0LLUPQN3QZFHHO0FIDMFGE
  • Story Text: Peace talks to try to end the conflict in Sudan have ended without a ceasefire but both sides have agreed to hold an internationally supervised referendum on self-determination for the south.

    The Khartoum government has allowed more aid planes to fly to the south Sudan and deliver food to hunger-stricken areas.

    Speaking on Thursday (May 7) in Nairobi, a day after the end of peace talks, the Sudanese government delegation said it was fully committed to a referendum on self-determination in south Sudan and would even be happy to see the south become a sovereign state.

    Riak Machar, a former rebel leader with the SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army) and now a leading figure in the government camp, and other government leaders gave an upbeat assessment of the talks at a news conference.

    "We as the government delegation are happy with the results of the second round of peace talks." said Machar, now the president of the government-backed Southern Sudan Coordinating Council (SSCC).He said self-determination rather than religion was the substantive issue dividing the government and the SPLA.

    Machar also said one of the main elements of the current agreement reached was to allow free access of aid to famine areas.

    In response to the famine crisis in southern Sudan, the Khartoum government on Sunday (May 3) agreed to allow Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), an umbrella group of United Nations and non-governmental organisations, to fly a total of five Hercules and three Buffalo planes to rebel-held areas in the south.

    Khartoum government representative Ali Alhaj blamed rebel leader John Garang for opposing a ceasefire which Alhaj said the United Nations and European Community supported.

    Civil war in Sudan pits the Moslem Arabised north against Christian or animist rebels - the SPLA led by John Garang - in the south.

    In many areas of the south, government forces are tied down in garrison towns, but the SPLA -- hampered by logistics over Sudan's vast distances, appear unable to mount decisive attacks.

    The war has left an estimated 1.3 million dead since 1983 and now threatens 350,000 people in the south with starvation.


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