Reuters
30-JUL-98
NAIROBI, July 30 (Reuters)- A new round of talks aimed at ending a long-running conflict in Sudan will start in the Ethiopian capital next week, the Ethiopian embassy in Nairobi said on Thursday.
A statement from the embassy said: ``The third round of negotiations on the conflict in South Sudan will take place from August 4-6, 1998, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
Talks between the Sudan government and rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) resumed in Nairobi last October after a three-year hiatus. The two sides held a second round of talks in May.
A third round had been scheduled to take place earlier in Addis Ababa but analysts said the location was threatened by a conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, in which hundreds died between May 6 and June 11.
Both Horn of Africa states belong to IGAD, a seven nation grouping of regional states with a sub-committee on the Sudan conflict chaired by Kenya.
Members of the IGAD sub-committee of foreign ministers will meet from Sunday in Addis Ababa, the statement said.
Conflict between the Khartoum government and the SPLA and internal fighting between armed factions within the government's territory has greatly contributed to a hunger crisis sweeping parts of the South.
Both sides agreed in July to a limited ceasefire to allow aid to flow.
The application of Islamic law to the south and the right of the south to self determination were key items on the agenda at the May talks.