Khartoum holds rebels responsible of stalemate in Addis Ababa peace talks

Khartoum on Monday held the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector responsible of stalemate in the peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which tend to find a political settlement for the conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile areas.

"The SPLM/northern sector once again returned to its old method of procrastination and backtracking from what it has previously agreed on with the government regarding the item of cease-fire which was with the testimony of the observers," Sudan government delegation to the Addis Ababa peace talks said in a statement Monday.

"At the time when all the Sudanese people, namely our people at the two areas, were waiting for this round of negotiation to come out with a deal that stops the war and ends their suffering, the SPLM/northern sector insisted to disappoint them by its procrastination and political bidding to prolong the conflict to serve its own objectives," the statement said.

Khartoum further accused the rebel movement of violating the cease-fire which it declared late last September, noting that "the SPLM/northern sector continued in attacking the citizens, terrorizing them and violating their rights."

The current round of Addis Ababa talks, which started last Thursday, were scheduled to discuss cessation of hostilities prior to reaching a comprehensive cease-fire and then the humanitarian, security and political arrangements as agreed on by the two delegations in previous rounds.

However, the negotiations faced difficulties after the SPLM/northern sector insisted to confine the negotiations to cessation of hostilities for humanitarian purposes to open passages to deliver aid to the needy before discussing the comprehensive cease-fire or any other political arrangements. Endit