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      • First east Sudan peace talks in December-politician

First east Sudan peace talks in December-politician

The Sudanese government and rebels will meet for the first time in December to try to end years of conflict in the eastern part of the country, a top opposition politician said on Tuesday.

 

Amna Dirar, the secretary-general of the eastern opposition Beja Congress party, said a British aid agency would train opposition delegates in negotiation skills from Nov. 12, in preparation for the talks.

 

"We'll start the negotiations most probably in the first week of December," Dirar said. "We're still waiting to hear from the mediators as to where, but the mediation will be a collaboration between Libya and Eritrea," she added.

 

Government officials declined to immediately comment on the talks.

 

Sudan, Africa's largest country, is beset by regional conflicts as many people on the periphery feel neglected by the central government in Khartoum.

 

While a peace deal to end more than 2 decades of civil war in the south was signed in January, revolts in the western Darfur region and the east are still in full flow.

 

The eastern conflict became a flashpoint in January when police opened live fire on a peaceful march killing and injuring dozens of residents of the main eastern town, Port Sudan.

 

Rebels have since kidnapped local politicians and attacked government garrisons.

 

Port Sudan is Sudan's main port, through which exports from a production of around 330,000 barrels per day of oil are pumped to the outside world. The east also has Sudan's largest gold mine, although the area remains impoverished.

 

Dirar said the talks and the training had the full support of the United Nations, as well as Britain, the United States and Norway -- the three nations who were heavily involved in the southern peace deal.

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