Swiss mediated Sudan talks focus on ceasefire

A Sudanese soldier walks past the blood-stained sandals of victims killed in a mosque shooting last December Keystone Archive

Mediators for the warring factions in Sudan have turned their attention to "detailed ceasefire negotiations" during the second day of talks outside Lucerne.

Sudanese government officials and members of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army, (SPLA), are attending the week-long meeting, which is being mediated by both United States and Swiss officials.

Joseph Bucher, Switzerland’s special envoy for conflict management, is heading up the Swiss team.

On Monday the Swiss Foreign Ministry said no statement of the negotiations would be issued before Thursday.

However, a SPLA spokesman, Samson Kwaje, said the gathering was aimed at discussing a ceasefire in the Nuba Mountains and not at reaching a comprehensive peace deal.

A statement from an adviser to the Sudanese president, Omar el-Bashir, said the talks would aim at “the implementation of the agreement reached with the American envoy to Sudan, John Danforth, during his recent visit to the country”.

US interests

The US has taken increasing interest in Sudan since the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Washington hopes its efforts will persuade the Sudanese government to assist in finding the suspected terrorist, Osama bin Laden, who lived in the African country between 1991 and 1996.

During his visit to Sudan, Danforth proposed a package of measures aimed at increasing confidence between the warring parties.

These include a ceasefire in the Nuba area, a halt to aerial bombings, the creation of “zones of tranquillity” to allow the delivery of aid, and efforts to stop civilians from being forcefully recruited in militia groups.

Sudan has been riven by civil war for 18 years in the longest running conflict on the African continent. The southern part of the country, which comprises an animist and Christian population, has been fighting against the Muslim-dominated north in an effort to have more autonomy and possibly independence.

More than two million people are estimated to have died in combat and in famines induced by fighting.

President el-Bashir and the SPLA have agreed to hold a referendum on the self-determination of southern Sudan. However, the rebel group wants other areas included, such as the southwestern Nuba mountains, a plan which has been rejected by the government.

swissinfo with agencies