NAIROBI, March 9 (NNN-SUNA) — The Ministerial Council of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has met in Nairobi to prepare for the coming 14th summit of IGAD member states, scheduled to begin Tuesday at Kenyan capital’s Jomo Kenyata Conference Centre.

The Sudanese government delegation for the meeting was headed by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mutrif Siddiq, who told the meeting stating that advanced steps had been reached in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended the fighting betwen northern and Southern Sudan in 2005 despite the existence of some obstacles,

He added that the two partners of the peace agreement — the central government and the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) — had always succeed in achieving a solution to any obstacle that faced the implementation of the CPA.

The ministerial council meeting was also addressed by the Kenyan and Ethiopian Foreign Ministers, the United States Envoy for Sudan, Scott Gration, the British envoy and the Ambassador of Italy on behalf of the IGAD partners.

The European speakers expressed their concern over the post-referendum arrangements and called on the two partners to begin discussions of the post-referendum arrangements on ground that the CPA did not tackle this issue.

At a close-door meeting, the two partners of the CPA gave reports on the implementation of the peace agreement.

The delegation of the two partners — the National Congress party which is in power in the national government, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which heads the GoSS — were headed by Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed and William Deng, respectively, while Pagan Amom of the SPLM joined the meeting.

The meeting achieved the conclusion that all the differences facing the CPA implementation could be solved.

The meeting is due to issue a declaration which will be submitted to the summit of the IGAD heads of state for ratification Tuesday morning.

The First Vic -President of Sudan and GoSS President, General Salva Kiir, arrived in Nairobi from Juba, the South Sudan capital, while Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha was expected to arrive in Nairobi Monday evening, accompanied by Presidential Adviser Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, and a number of ambassadors. — NNN-SUNA

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