The Sudanese government and eastern rebels signed a declaration
of principles and a ceasefire agreement in the Eritrean capital
Asmara Monday evening, the official SUNA news agency reported.
Mustafa Ismail, presidential advisor and head of the government
delegation, and Mohamed Ahmed, chairman of the rebel East Front,
signed the two documents, according to the report.
Addressing the signing ceremony, Ahmed said that the two
documents created a positive climate and constituted the basis for
coming negotiations, expressing hope that coming peace talks would
be held in the same spirit.
Ismail, on his part, highly praised Eritrea's sponsorship of
peace negotiations and efforts exerted by negotiators of the two
sides to work out the two documents.
Underlining the government's commitment to solving all the
conflicts in Sudan through dialogue, he said that weapons would
never lead to peace but to ruins and destruction.
"I want to send a message to our citizens in East Sudan that
steps toward peace have started and only a just and permanent peace
can end humanitarian sufferings in the east," he added.
He said that the road of peace was still very long, noting that
"we are still in the first quarter of the road, patience and
persistence are needed before we reach the shore of peace." Last
Tuesday, the two sides began peace negotiation under the auspices
of the Eritrean government.
Early last year, the East Front was founded by Sudan's eastern
two main rebel groups, the Beja Congress and the Free Lions. Last
June, the front launched its first military offensive against
government positions in the Red Sea state.
During a recent visit by Eritrean President Assias Afworeki in
Khartoum, Sudan and Eritrea reached an agreement on normalization
of bilateral relations and Eritrea's sponsorship of peace talks in
Asmara.
(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2006)
