Peace summit scheduled for June

The Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, and the main rebel leader, John Garang of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) are to attend a peace summit aimed at ending the country’s 18 year civil war. The meeting, scheduled for 2 June in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi is expected to include high-level representatives from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti Muhammad Dirdeiry, spokesman for the Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi told IRIN that he was hopeful the meeting would reinvigorate the peace process in Sudan. “We hope that the meeting between Garang and Bashir will lead to the long-awaited comprehensive ceasefire,” he said. The meeting, organised by the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), will be the first peace summit between the Sudanese government and the SPLA since 1997. SPLA/M spokesman Samson Kwaje told IRIN that he expected IGAD as a whole would review the peace process. “We hope the meeting will push the peace process forward,” he said. The Khartoum administration had earlier announced on 24 May that it was halting air strikes against the SPLM/A in southern Sudan and the Nubah mountains. “Everybody wants this war to stop, everybody wants a ceasefire,” the BBC quoted Sudanese foreign minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail as saying. During his visit to Kenya on 27 May, US Secretary of State Colin Powell was quoted as saying that the US was “going to work hard to bring a ceasefire into effect.” Powell, who met Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi, current head of IGAD, said the US would appoint a special envoy to press the parties in Sudan to “re-energise” the peace process. Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir, and the main rebel leader, John Garang of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), are to attend a peace summit aimed at ending the country’s 18 year civil war. The meeting, scheduled for 2 June in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, is expected to include high-level representatives from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. Muhammad Dirdeiry, spokesman for the Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi, told IRIN he was hopeful the meeting would reinvigorate the peace process in Sudan. “We hope that the meeting between Garang and Bashir will lead to the long-awaited comprehensive ceasefire,” he said. The meeting, organised by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), will be the first peace summit between the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A since 1997. SPLM/A spokesman Samson Kwaje told IRIN he expected IGAD as a whole would review the peace process. “We hope the meeting will push the peace process forward,” he said. The Khartoum administration had earlier announced on 24 May that it was halting air strikes against the SPLM/A in southern Sudan and the Nubah Mountains. “Everybody wants this war to stop, everybody wants a ceasefire,” the BBC quoted Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma’il as saying. During his visit to Kenya on 27 May, US Secretary of State Colin Powell was quoted as saying that the US was “going to work hard to bring a ceasefire into effect”. Powell, who met Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi, the current head of IGAD, said the US would appoint a special envoy to press the parties in Sudan to “re-energise” the peace process.