It was the first time the two sides are meeting in face-to-face talks in almost two years.
The Sudanese government and rebels in South Kordofan State yesterday, April 23, 2013 began holding talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on ending the two-year war, the AFP news agency reported.
An announcement on the website of Sudan’s Embassy in the U.S. made it clear that the dialogue would only be based on protocols set out in a 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, CPA, with South Sudan. An African Union, AU mediator, former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, is chairing the discussions between the Khartoum government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, SPLM-N, led by Malik Agar.
It is the first direct talks in almost two years between the two sides since SPLM-N and government met indirectly through AU mediators in a failed attempt to secure humanitarian access to the war zone. Responding to last week’s announcement of the dialogue, Neroun Phillip, a member of the SPLM-N negotiating team, said for Khartoum to directly negotiate with the rebels was a sign of progress. He warned that difficulties could arise in working out the details of any agreement, adding that it was too early to talk about peace until the parties had agreed on something.
Talk of peace, however, was accompanied last week by heavy fighting between the two sides. Rebels shelled South Kordofan's capital, Kadugli, targeting what they said were military bases. A Kadugli resident told AFP that one woman was killed in the mortar barrage. SPLM-N also shelled a military outpost east of the capital, hitting an ammunition storage facility which exploded, a rebel spokesman said.
The government recently announced that the first set of observers was preparing to monitor a demilitarised buffer zone between Sudan and South Sudan in a move to curb cross-border rebel support. Sudan has previously refused to meet SPLM-N rebels in Kordofan State and has accused South Sudan of backing them in their bid to overthrow Sudanese President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Fighting began shortly after South Sudan’s independence in 2011.
