Sudan, rebels adopt ceasefire, allow aid to reach 1 mn people

KHARTOUM: Sudan and rebels in South Kordofan would adopt an immediate ceasefire and allow aid to reach more than one million people, says a proposed agreement issued as peace talks broke off last week.

African Union mediators presented the proposal for Khartoum and rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) on Tuesday, when the talks in Ethiopia adjourned after both combatants traded accusations.

There are no reliable figures for how many people have died in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, where the rebels have been fighting for nearly three years, but the United Nations says an estimated 1.2 million have been displaced or otherwise affected.

Sudanese authorities have restricted access to the war zones for aid workers, journalists and foreign diplomats, although relief has reached people in government-controlled areas. There has been no aid access into SPLM-N zones from within Sudan since 2011.

Several days of negotiation failed to make progress, but a source said both sides left to study the draft agreement, dated February 18. The rebels and government would “cease all hostilities unconditionally” and an AU-designated “third party” would monitor the ceasefire. Peace icon warns that Uganda’s anti-gay law recalls attempts to “legislate against love”. The South African peace icon warned the gay law recalled sinister attempts by the Nazi and apartheid regimes.

The Anglican cleric said he was “very disheartened” to learn that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni intended to sign a bill that will see homosexuals jailed for life.

“In South Africa, apartheid police used to rush into bedrooms where whites were suspected of making love to blacks,” Tutu said. “It was a blot on our entire society,” he added.

“My plea to President Museveni is to use the debate around the Anti-Homosexuality Bill as a catalyst to strengthen the culture of human rights and justice in Uganda,” Tutu said.