Sudan extends ceasefire with southern rebels

Sudanese and South Sudanese officials agreed Saturday night with the leader of an alliance of armed factions operating along their common border to extend the ceasefire and grant humanitarian access to certain areas. affected by the conflict in Sudan.

Sudan says its neighbor, South Sudan, has given refuge to Malik Agar, one of many rebels in Sudan. The two countries share a long and porous border and have long supported armed groups in their respective territories since the independence of oil-rich southern Sudan in 2011.

On 17 April, Sudan and Hagar signed a ceasefire covering the Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan regions, a week after the overthrow of Sudanese President Omar al Bashir after 30 years of rule. This agreement was to expire at the end of July.
Peace talks will continue as rebel factions in Sudan's Darfur region arrive in Juba Sunday from Addis Ababa.

Tut Gatluak, the presidential envoy of South Sudan for security, participated in Saturday's talks; General Mohamed Hamadan Dagalo, Deputy Head of the Transitional Military Council in power in Sudan; and Agar, at the head of a group of weakly affiliated armed opposition groups.

Sudan faces armed insurrections across the country and protests from citizens enraged by decades of economic mismanagement and habitual violations of human rights by security forces. Many demonstrators against Bashir and his successor military council were killed.

Sudan's ruling military council and the Forces for Freedom and Change, a coordination group of Sudanese political and armed factions, have agreed on a three-year power-sharing agreement this month, although many details remain to be solved. Hagar was not part of this agreement. The weekend talks in Juba focused on armed groups operating in border areas with South Sudan.

"The visit of the Transitional Military Council to Juba today addresses issues of peace negotiations with Sudanese opposition groups in South Kordofan, Nubia and Darfur," said Guatlak.

Hagar, who heads a group known as SPLM-North, said he wanted to agree on a common stance with the Forces for Freedom and Change. In the meantime, the ceasefire will be extended and aid agencies will be able to access it, he said. "We have … renewed the cessation of hostilities and the opening of humanitarian corridors in the affected areas.

"This (negotiation) process must be done by the President of South Sudan because he has the influence of armed groups operating in Sudan," said Agar.