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"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" ----- Original Message -----
From: Thomas Mountain
Sent: Friday, October 18, 2002 4:15 AM
Subject: [anarchy_africa] Sudan; 10 Minutes of Peace; Gov violates
truce, mediator complains Mediator says Sudan broke truce, talks may collapse By James Macharia NAIROBI, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The chief mediator in Sudan's peace talks said on Thursday the government had violated a truce with the rebels and warned that the talks could collapse. The truce agreement signed earlier this week was the first of its kind in a 19-year conflict that has divided Africa's biggest country and killed an estimated two million people. Sudan's rebels accused government troops of breaking the temporary ceasefire by attacking their forces in eastern Sudan just 10 minutes after the truce was due to take effect at 0900 GMT on Thursday. "I have confirmed through independent means that the government did indeed break the truce," Lazaro Sumbeiywo, Kenya's special envoy at the talks, told Reuters. "I am terribly frustrated by this action. Any further fighting which could lead to the loss of a town could jeopardise the talks. It is pointless to sign a contract and then you fail to commit to it." There was no immediate word from the Sudanese government about the ceasefire violation. The talks aim to reach a permanent ceasefire in Africa's longest civil war, which pits the Islamic government in northern Sudan against rebels fighting for more autonomy for the mainly Christian and animist south. The truce was meant to stop fighting throughout Sudan for the duration of peace talks scheduled to last five weeks, but could have been extended for a year if necessary. Sumbeiywo said the talks, which started on Wednesday, would continue despite the fighting pending an official response from Khartoum on the ceasefire violation. "I have asked members of the Sudan government delegation about the ceasefire, but they are dodging, saying they have not heard about it," Sumbeiywo said by telephone from the venue of the talks in the Kenyan town of Machakos. "We have a mechanism for reporting and dealing with the violations. The government has to answer for this." NEGATIVE IMPACT The rebel Sudanese Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) also warned that the talks could be in jeopardy. "It is to be noted seriously that if the attack continues, it is going to have a negative impact on the ongoing negotiations at Machakos," Yasir Arman, rebel spokesman in the Eritrean capital Asmara, told Reuters. The rebels said 1,200 government soldiers had attacked rebel positions at Rasai in eastern Sudan using five tanks, and seven trucks mounted with artillery. The battle lasted three hours. "The government of Sudan should be condemned for violating the agreement even before the ink on the signed document dries," another rebel spokesman Samson Kwaje told Reuters. "After repulsing the enemy, our troops have remained in their positions and did not pursue the government soldiers. We shall fight back only in self defence because of the truce." Kwaje said the rebels killed most of the government troops while others had fled. Mediators said the ceasefire would cover all fronts in Sudan, including the east where rebels from the National Democratic Alliance, an umbrella group including the SPLA, has recently made advances. Sudan had previously objected to a ceasefire in the east, and the army has vowed to recapture the town of Hamashkoreib from the rebels. Peace talks collapsed last month after the rebels seized the strategic garrison town of Torit. Fighting in southern Sudan has escalated since then. But when Khartoum retook Torit last week, the rebels gave in to a government demand that they sign a ceasefire before resuming peace negotiations. (Additional reporting by Taro Matsuoka in Asmara) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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