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Bashir, middle, with other IGAD Presidents
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NAIROBI,
October 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Sudanese government
and southern rebels agreed to halt a civil war that started in 1983
and to resume talks to end it for good, mediators said in Nairobi
Friday, October 4. They explained that the truce and fresh talks
would start on October 14.
"After
consultations with the government of Sudan and the (rebel) Sudan
People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), both parties have agreed
to resume negotiations starting on 14 October," read a statement
released by the secretariat of the Inter-Governmental Authority on
Development (IGAD), a grouping of regional states mediating in Sudan's
peace process, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"In
order to create a conducive atmosphere for the talks, both parties
have agreed to cease hostilities in all areas and ensure a military
stand-down of all forces," the statement said.
It
added that both parties have been invited to express their commitment
to stop fighting and resume talking by signing a Memorandum of
Understanding at the start of the talks in Nairobi on October 14.
"...The
mediators call upon both parties to exercise maximum self-restraint
and avoid any action which may jeopardize the resumption of
talks," the statement said.
On
September 2, The
SPLA attacked and captured the southern Sudanese town of Torit,
forcing Khartoum to pull its delegation out of a second round of peace
talks in Kenya.
An initial round of talks in Kenya ended in July with signing an
agreement under which the south will enjoy six years of self-rule,
before deciding in a referendum whether it wants to secede or remain
part of Sudan.
The next round of talks will focus on sharing power and resources,
notably the revenue from oil reserves. Human rights and a
fully-fledged ceasefire are also on the agenda.
On
Wednesday, October 2, the Sudanese government denied southern
rebels’ claim that said they had cut off oil supplies to Khartoum.
“A
commando unit of the 20th brigade ... penetrated the oil collection
and production complex in Heglig and destroyed the main station,”
said the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in a statement.
The
rebel organization said it suffered no casualties “despite attacks
by the helicopter gun ships of the regime” of President Omar
al-Beshir.
“Oil
supply to Khartoum has been cut off” as a result of the operation
carried out early Monday, September 30, SPLA spokesman Yasir Arman
told AFP.
The
Heglig oilfield accounts for the bulk of Sudan’s oil production
running currently at around 240,000 barrels per day (bpd). It came on
stream in August 1999, making Sudan an oil-exporting country.
A
Sudanese army spokesman, quoted by the official news agency SUNA,
dismissed the SPLA statement as “lies” and part of “the
psychological warfare against our people and the armed forces.”
“The
rebel Yasir Arman is continuing to spread lies, the latest being about
the destruction of the main field in Heglig,” he said, reacting
several hours after the SPLA report.
The war considerably escalated in September.
On September 27, Khartoum closed its air space in the south for nine
days, leading to the suspension of all humanitarian flights there.
In Geneva, the UN World Food Program (WFP) said that this move put
about half a million people at risk of starvation.
WFP spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume said that, normally, 25 flights
a day took off from Lokichokio in northern Kenya, heading across the
border with food supplies, but the ban meant that since September 27
there had been only four, to evacuate staff.
In all, almost 2,800 tons of food supplies had not been delivered to
affected southern provinces, Berthiaume said.
On
Thursday, October 3, Kenyan General Lazaro Sumbeiywo, the chief
mediator, delivered a message from Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi to
his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Beshir.
The
message contained proposals for resuming peace talks.
Khartoum demanded a nationwide ceasefire as its price for going back
to Machakos, but the SPLA said it will only halt attacks when the
talks resume and for as long as they last.
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