Canadian grant seeks to "rekindle" peace process

Canada is providing 400,000 Canadian dollars to the International Resource Group on Disarmament and Security in the Horn of Africa (IRG) to rekindle the stalled peace process in Sudan. A report from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) said the IRG will act as an advisory body to the negotiations and "engage envoys to regularly brief participants in the peace talks". The IRG is an international panel of former ministers of African countries, former high-level international and regional government leaders, and leading academics, it said. Meanwhile, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustapha Osman Ismail said on Wednesday that the next round of Sudan peace talks organised by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), scheduled for 19-24 July in Nairobi, will focus on "a comprehensive ceasefire, the transitional period, and a referendum," Sudanese Radio reported.