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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 13 October 2006

SUDAN: Govt, eastern rebels to sign peace agreement

NAIROBI, 13 Oct 2006 (IRIN) - The Sudanese government and Eastern Front rebels have agreed to sign a peace agreement in the Eritrean capital of Asmara to end a simmering conflict in the east of Sudan, sources said.

The agreement follows four months of talks mediated by Mustafa Osman Ismail, the Sudanese presidential adviser. Ismail told reporters in Asmara on Thursday that the two parties had arrived at a consensus on power-sharing. Agreement had also been reached on wealth-sharing and security, he said, adding that Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir would attend the signing ceremony.

The Eastern Front - an alliance between two rebel movements, the Beja Congress and a smaller insurgent group, the Rashaida Free Lions - has been active in the poor region near the Eritrean border. The front accuses the Sudanese government of marginalising the remote regions of the country and demands greater autonomy. Fighting between its men and government troops has been sporadic and on a small scale.

Originally a nomadic people, many Beja live in extensive shantytowns on the outskirts of Port Sudan. They moved to the port to work as labourers after famine killed their cattle and mechanised farming took over their lands in the 1980s.

The Sudanese government and the Eastern Front signed a ceasefire and agreed on a framework for substantive peace talks in June, after which preparatory talks began in Asmara on 13 June. The agreement covered a declaration of principles which outlined a framework for future talks. This included a ceasefire, the lifting of the state of emergency, the release of prisoners of war, and an agreement to refrain from hostile media campaigns.

According to observers, an eastern peace deal is important to avoid a vacuum created by the withdrawal of Sudan People’s Liberation Army troops from the region in June. Since then, more Sudanese armed forces have been deployed there - a strategic region that includes Port Sudan, which is the country's economic lifeline. Most of Sudan’s foreign trade passes through the region, which also lies along the border with Eritrea.

For the past 12 years, Sudan has had rocky relations with Eritrea. The official Sudanese News Agency reported on Thursday that Al-Bashir and Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki would meet during the ceremony to discuss relations between their two countries.

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[ENDS]

This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006