October 5, 2006 (Addis Ababa) - Southern Sudanese Government representatives and their Ethiopian counterparts have concluded a one-day meeting to advance a community-initiated peace process aimed at ending a 14-year conflict between the Lou and Jikany Nuer ethnic communities.

According to an official statement issued here Wednesday, the Sudanese delegation met with senior officials at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as parliamentarians.

All groups welcomed the peace process that began last July at a gathering of over 300 pastoralists from the Horn of Africa countries.

Organised under the auspices of the Pastoralist Communication Initiative of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), the meeting was held at a camp near Yabello in southern Ethiopia.

Following the Yabello conference, chiefs from both groups met in Addis Ababa and declared an end to their conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives over the years.

Ethiopian officials have told the Southern Sudanese delegation that it was vital that the community continued to drive the process.

The peace delegation has also visited Ethiopia`s Gambella Region, close to the Sudan border, where they spoke with Sudanese refugees at Itang and Fugnido camps.

Most of the refugees fled to Ethiopia in 1983 and during the 1990´s as a result of the civil war in Southern Sudan.

It was the first time that a Southern Sudanese government delegation had visited the camps since the end of the civil war.

The delegation also met with community leaders and Gambella regional government representatives.

Most civilians and militias in Jonglei State voluntarily disarmed in July this year, as part of a process that authorities in Southern Sudan believe will lead to greater economic and social development.