AU mediator starts meetings in Khartoum ahead of new peace talks

African Union Chief Mediator Thabo Mbeki started a series of meetings here on Thursday ahead of a new round of peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebels of Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector and Darfur armed groups.

Mbeki, the head of African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP), first met with Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, Sudan's presidential assistant and head of the government's negotiating team.

"It has been agreed on continuation of the AUHIP's efforts relating to achieving peace in Sudan and involving the armed groups in the national dialogue document," said Hamid at a press conference following the meeting.

The Sudanese official reiterated the government's readiness to resume talks with the rebels of the SPLM/northern sector and the Darfur armed groups.

"We are waiting for the response of the armed movements and Mbeki's consultations with those movements to determine a date for the resumption of the talks," he said.

Later on Thursday, Mbeki will meet with Sudan's First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Saleh, Sudan's opposition leader Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi and the higher committee for implementation of outcomes of the national dialogue.

He is also expected to meet with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, the date has yet to be fixed.

So far, 10 rounds of peace talks between the Sudanese government and the SPLM/northern sector and Darfur armed groups have been held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, under the patronage of the African Union, but all failed to end the conflict.

The Sudanese government has been fighting the SPLM/northern sector in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states since 2011. It has also been battling a group of armed movements in the Darfur region since 2003. Endit