The Sudanese government and the main rebel group in the south of the vast country have extended an ongoing ceasefire for three months, amid deadlock in talks aimed at ending 21 years of conflict, the chief mediator said on Tuesday.
”They signed an agreement extending the cessation of hostilities on Monday for the next three months, starting September 1,” the chief mediator, retired Kenyan army general Lazaro Sumbeiywo, said by telephone.
Sudan’s ambassador to Kenya, Ali Numeiri, and Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) commander Taban Deng signed the ceasefire agreement, which was first reached in October 2002 and has since been repeatedly renewed.
A civilian protection monitoring team has said that both sides have violated the ceasefire, particularly in Western Upper Nile state, which was rocked by clashes between Khartoum-backed militia groups and SPLA forces last April.
The two sides adjourned talks on a permanent ceasefire on July 28 and have not indicated when they would resume.
Officials in the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development have said that the talks, in their penultimate round, have stalled on military aspects related to the ceasefire.
The war in southern Sudan erupted in 1983 when mainly black southern rebels took up arms to end domination by successive Islamic regimes in Khartoum. The conflict has claimed at least 1,5-million lives and displaced four million others. — Sapa-AFP