Egypt calls for peace conference

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mussa said in a visit to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday that the time was right for a peace conference involving all Sudanese factions. Before leaving Khartoum, he told journalists that Egypt was “seriously working toward holding a meeting soon of inter-Sudanese reconciliation, because the time is now more favourable than before”, AFP reported.

But opposition representatives said President Omar al-Bashir had dashed hopes of reconciliation by insisting on Monday that he would continue the war option in the south and imposing Islamic law nationwide, the agency said. Egypt and Libya are sponsoring a joint peace initiative for Sudan. This is in parallel to the mediation efforts of the region Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which has sponsored peace talks between the government and the southern-based Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M).