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Sudan to resume negotiations with southern rebels in two weeks

Xinhua, February 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Sudan will resume negotiations with southern rebels on the conflict in the southern border regions of Blue Nile and South Kordofan within two weeks, said an official on Monday.

The government accepted a proposal by Thabo Mbeki, head of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan, on resumption of peace talks with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in two weeks, said Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman.

He reiterated the government's willingness to embark on serious negotiations to reach a peace deal to end the conflict in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, which locates on the borders with South Sudan.

The African Union has been patronizing the negotiations between the Sudanese government and the SPLM/northern sector to reach a settlement for the conflict in those two areas, but the two sides failed to achieve any progress in the last round of talks.

The South Kordofan and Blue Nile states have been witnessing armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the SPLM/northern sector since South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan in 2011. Endit