By Ahmed Abdullah
ADDIS ABABA
The Sudanese government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) would most likely sign a cease-fire deal on Sunday, some diplomatic sources said Saturday.
The sources added that the Khartoum government and SPLM-N agreed on Saturday on a framework for their current negotiations in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, following a four-hour meeting in the presence of Thabo Mbeki, the head of the African Union's High-level Implementation Panel for Sudan.
One of the sources said the panel would later on Saturday present for both parties to sign the draft of an agreement that would open the door for the cease-fire in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile states.
SPLM-N had earlier called for allowing the Revolutionary Front, an alliance of militant movements fighting against the government in the aforementioned two states, to attend the talks with the government in Addis Ababa.
The rebel movement also called for a comprehensive, not partial, dialogue with the government, partial cease-fire and postponing the 2015 elections, the diplomatic source said.
The government called, however, for a comprehensive cease-fire and limiting the talks to South Kordofan and the Blue Nile states, the source added.
A delegation representing the Sudanese government and another representing SPLM-N started a new round of talks in Addis Ababa on Friday.
Mediated by the African Union's High-level Implementation Panel for Sudan, which is headed by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, the talks aim to make peace between the Sudanese government and the SPLM-N.
Since 2011, the SPLM-N has waged an active insurgency against the Sudanese government in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.
Outlawed by Khartoum, the movement consists mainly of fighters who sided with southern Sudan during the nation's long civil war. That conflict ended with a 2005 peace treaty that opened the door to South Sudan's secession from Sudan six years later.
The last round of talks between Khartoum and the SPLM-N broke down in May.
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