Sudan’s warring factions will extend a ceasefire pact when it expires at the end of June, to facilitate ongoing talks aimed at ending two decades of conflict, mediators said on Tuesday. Sudan’s northern government has been fighting the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) since 1983. The conflict, over oil, religion, ideology and the right for the southern people to govern themselves, has killed some two million people. “We will be signing an extension of the Memorandum of Understanding on hostilities on June 30,” a spokeswoman for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the regional body hosting the peace talks, told Reuters. Khartoum confirmed on Tuesday that it would sign the truce extension for another three months. The SPLA said it was still looking at the proposal, but would sign in principle. Both Khartoum and the SPLA say they are committed to ending the war, but after a promising start last year, peace talks in Kenya have become mired in wrangling over how to carve up power and wealth in a post-war Sudan. Full Story
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