Government says rebel leader’s offer “encouraging”

A Sudanese government spokesman said recent statements by the leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLA), John Garang, were encouraging for a peaceful solution. The minister of culture and information, Dr Ghazi Salah al-Din Atabani, was reported to have said by Sudanese state television, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), that the fact that Garang had expressed readiness to take steps towards a peaceful solution indicated “a new language”. He said he hoped it expressed “a true desire for peace”. The minister said the statements would be evaluated in the context of “efforts being made for peace, and the reaction will be commensurate”.

Garang said in a recent interview that he would be ready to meet with Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir. The gesture towards a peaceful solution to the civil war in the south comes as representatives from the two sides prepare for talks in Nairobi on Thursday, under auspices of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).