| Posted to the web on November 19, 2007 |
|
|
November 18, 2007 (NAIROBI) — Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki called Saturday for a quick end to Sudan's political crisis, following talks with the leader of the semi-autonomous region of South Sudan, Salva Kiir.
Kibaki, whose country was the lead negotiator in ending a two-decade conflict in South Sudan two years ago, also said he had "contacted (Sudanese) President Omar al-Beshir on the latest crisis," according to a statement.
Kiir, first vice president in Sudan's government of national unity, and his Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) pulled out of the government on September 11 saying that a 2005 peace deal was not being implemented.
The move sparked fears of an unravelling of the accord that ended Africa's longest-running and most intractable conflict. A series of consultations has failed to resolve the crisis, deepening mistrust between the erstwhile foes.
The war, which claimed at least 1.5 million people and displace four million others, creating one of Africa's largest refugee crisis and sowed the seeds for insurgency in other parts of Sudan.
Kiir's talks with the Kenyan leader were held on his way home from the United States where he held talks with President George W. Bush -- a visit criticised by Khartoum.
In Washington, Kiir said the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended 21 years of war between the Muslim north and mainly Christian and animist south was staggering "like a drunken person" but had not yet collapsed.
His former rebels will stay out of the national government until the 2005 peace agreement is fully implemented, he said.
(AFP)
|
