unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/12/89)
SUDAN JUNTA INVITES REBELS; GARANG SETS TOUGH TERMS
(Reuter Library Report, September 7, 298 words, DATELINE:
KHARTOUM)
Sudan's military rulers promised southern rebel John Garang safe
passage on Thursday to attend a peace conference in Khartoum.
Garang said he would stay away unless the junta conceded a stiff
list of demands.
Diplomats in East Africa said General Omar Hassan al-Bashir's
junta was virtually certain to reject Garang's conditions, which
were broadcast by rebel radio.
Junta negotiator Colonel Mohammed al-Amin Khalifa told a news
conference: "We will give him (Garang) all the protection he
needs...
"I am inviting him to take part with us in the conference so we
can hear his voice. We are waiting for him in Khartoum."
Rebel radio said Garang would not attend unless the junta
scrapped Islamic Sharia law -- a key issue in the six-year
revolt in the non-Moslem south -- compensated those who had
limbs amputed under Sharia, and reversed authoritarian measures
taken since it overthrew an elected government on June 30.
Sudan is the continent's largest country, stretching up the Nile
from the Egypt to the heart of Black Africa. War and famine
killed some 250,000 southerners last year alone and forced at
least three millions to flee the region.
The rebel demands included freeing arrested politicians and
trade unionists, lifting bans on parties and unions, reinstating
purged judges, military officers, civil servants and diplomats,
and restoring freedom of the press.
Khalifa said the conference's would open on Saturday, with or
without Garang, and representive of all Sudan's political
forces, regions, and ethnic and religious groups would set up
six committees to discuss a new formula for governing the
nation.
"If Sharia is a controversial issue, then we should sit down and
negotiate," he said. "We are knocking on every door in the search
for peace," he said.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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