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Africa Horn
East Sudan talks to begin in Asmara after delay
2006-06-14
KHARTOUM - Rebels from SudanÂ’s east will open their first talks with the Khartoum government on Tuesday in neighbouring Eritrea, hoping to resolve the simmering conflict in the gold-rich area, officials said. Eastern rebels, allied with other regional Sudanese rebel groups, have controlled Hamesh Koreb, a small area on the Eritrea-Sudan border for around a decade. The east, which contains SudanÂ’s only port, is the only peripheral area not to have begun peace talks with Khartoum.

“The United Nations will be participating in the talks tonight,” U.N. spokeswoman Radhia Achouri said on Tuesday. U.N. observation of the talks is a key rebel demand.
The rebels must be both weak and clueless ....
The government delegation, headed by Presidential Advisor Mustafa Osman Ismail, is due to leave this evening to open the long-delayed talks in the Eritrean capital Asmara. The Eastern Front, an alliance of the main eastern political parties and rebel groups, have been trained in negotiation skills to be able to match the experienced Khartoum government.
How about training in weaponry and logistics?
One source close to the mediation said these initial talks were preparatory and no substantive negotiations were expected to begin as yet. The talks follow the highest-level visit from Eritrea in years to Sudan, as President Isaias Afwerki met Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir in Khartoum on Monday, agreeing to normalise relations.

SudanÂ’s east, like other regions in AfricaÂ’s largest country, complain of neglect by central government. The arid area has some of the highest malnutrition rates in Sudan. But the east is strategically important, containing the largest gold mine and SudanÂ’s main oil pipeline. Sudan will soon pump around 500,000 barrels per day of crude.

The former southern rebel Sudan PeopleÂ’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), now partners in central government, are the main fighting force in Hamesh Koreb. But on Sunday they formally withdrew and handed over control to local government, a move their eastern allies dislike. The SPLM say they had hoped eastern peace talks would have begun last year and reached a deal by now. Analysts warn this could spark renewed fighting in the area.
Posted by:Steve White

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