unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (08/28/89)
SUDAN'S JUNTA TO UNILATERALLY EXTEND CIVIL WAR CEASE-FIRE
(Reuters, August 23, 441 words, DATELINE: KHARTOUM)
Sudan's military rulers plan to extend their unilateral cease-fire in
the war with southern rebels despite a breakdown in peace talks.
Dominic Kassiano, a member of the 15-man ruling junta, said in the
Wednesday edition of the armed forces newspaper that extending the
cease-fire a month from Sept. 4 would demonstrate the government's
goodwill and hopes for peace.
Sudanese and Arab diplomatic sources said the military had wanted the
weekend peace talks in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to succeed to
help offset growing domestic discontent.
The collapse of the talks has coincided with worsening food and fuel
shortages in Khartoum, causing increased resentment at military rule among
ordinary Sudanese, the sources said.
"During Mahdi's rule we had a democratic crisis, now we have a crisis
and no democracy," said a senior Sudanese banker and former ambassador.
Sugar, bread, soap, toothpaste and fuel are in short supply. Bread
lines form outside bakeries in the early hours. Drivers converge on gas
stations, the line of vehicles often stretching three blocks.
The first direct peace talks between Sudan's new military rulers and
its rebel foes collapsed Sunday, dashing hopes of an end to one of
Africa's bloodiest civil wars.
A dispute over the abolition of harsh Islamic punishments was the main
reason, Sudan People's Liberation Army commander Lam Akol said.
Akol told Reuters in the Ethiopian capital Monday the SPLA, fighting
what it sees as domination of mainly Christian and animist south Sudan by
the Moslem north, proposed the abolition of Islamic Sharia laws. Sudan's
military delegation rejected the proposal without presenting an
alternative, he said.
The SPLA, led by U.S.-educated John Garang, wants Sudan governed by
secular laws.
Col. Mohammed al-Amin Khalifa told the official Sudan News Agency the
two sides would meet again soon. He told Reuters in Addis Ababa talks
could resume in two or three weeks.
He said Sudan's military junta which seized power in a coup on June 30
remained committed to what he called a just and comprehensive settlement
to the conflict.
A series of unilateral cease-fires begun on May 1 have led to a de
facto truce in the south and allowed a major U.N.-led relief operation in
both army and SPLA-held areas. Famine has killed hundreds of thousands of
people in Sudan and made 400,000 others refugees.
Sharia laws, whose punishments include stoning to death, amputation of
limbs and flogging, were first introduced in Sudan in 1983 by former
president Jaafar Nimeiri. They have become largely dormant since 1985 and
only flogging is still practiced in northern Sudan.
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