Government/SPLA deny peace moves

Khartoum and southern Sudanese rebels have denied Libyan media reports that both sides held peace talks in Tripoli earlier this month. Pro-government faction head Riek Machar told the Khartoum daily ‘Al-Ra’i al-Am’ that Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) leader John Garang had left Tripoli before a government delegation arrived on 12 January, AFP reported. The official Libyan news agency had said Machar and Sudan Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma’il held talks with Garang “with a view to establishing a mechanism to settle the conflict.” An SPLA spokesman in Cairo also denied a meeting took place. Meanwhile, opposition radio monitored by the BBC said on Friday the SPLA repulsed an attack by government forces in the Nuba mountains. The report said 13 government soldiers were killed in two days of fighting near the town of Lagowa.