CAIRO, March 8 (IslamOnline.net) - Sudanese vice-President Ali Othman Taha has frozen the peace negotiations, currently held in Naivasha, Kenya, and returned to Khartoum to consult with President Omar Al-Bashir and leaders of the governing council, after being exposed to U.S. pressures to settle the issue of disputed Abyei region with the southern rebels.

“Taha’s return to Khartoum after freezing negotiations with the delegation of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Sudan [southern rebels] for several days has been an expression of the Sudanese government’s dissatisfaction with the pressures practiced on one party about the oil-rich Abyei area,” according to London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

The paper reported that the U.S. envoy to the Sudanese peace negotiations Roger Winter met with Taha Saturday, March 6, and demanded a decisive and final reply to the situation before Monday March 8, threatening to respond to a proposal to hold a referendum, wherein the people of region have the right to self-determination.

The paper added that Taha asked the permission of the U.S. envoy to return to Khartoum to hold consultations, provided he returns to Naivasha Tuesday, March 9, with a decisive reply. Taha returned to Khartoum, accompanied by a number of negotiators, including Sayed Al-Khatib and Nafie Ali Nafie.

The current round of Sudanese peace negotiations, which started in Naivasha February 17, had clashed with Abyei obstacle and reached its climax Saturday when Southern rebels submitted proposals with two options: either the government issues a resolution that stipulates the affiliation of the oil-rich area to the south or to hold a referendum in return for sharing Abyei’s oil.

The government refused those proposals as being not new and declared its abidance by the 2003 Machakos Protocol that provides for holding negotiations between both parties on the basis of southern Sudan borders in 1956, which demarcates Abyei within the northern region. Most inhabitants of Abyei area are from Denka tribe that belongs to the leaderships of the Popular Army for the Liberation of Sudan.

In press statements Sunday, March 7, Sudanese Foreign Minister Dr. Mustafa Othman Ismail said, “Taha returned to the country to consult with the President, the government and the National Conference Party on the latest developments of Naivasha negotiations. He’ll be back to Naivasha once he completes his talks in Khartoum.”

The Sudanese Minister refused to set a date for Taha’s return or specify the period he would stay in Khartoum. He reiterated that the attitudes of the Sudanese government delegation and the Popular Movement are still different regarding Abyei.

The Sudanese Minister denied the existence of a European-U.S. initiative on the situation in Abyei area, but pointed out that meddlers are working seriously to push both parties towards a peace deal.

The Sudanese Government delegation spokesman Sayed Al-Khatib said that the proposals of the movement on Abyei are deemed “an unacceptable withdrawal.”

“The government delegation did not discuss the new proposals of the movement and the government waits for an explanation before re-debating Abyei’s file,” Al-Khatib said.

Al-Khatib described the situation of negotiations as undesirable but said that “we are still connected, which is a good sign. We still attempt to settle disputes over Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain regions to progress to the situation in Abyei area.”

On the other hand, the Popular front spokesman Yasser Arman told the Middle East newspaper that Taha’s return to Khartoum is normal in order to hold consultations.

“On resuming negotiations, we hope that heads of both delegations manage to settle differences vis-à-vis the three regions and reach a deal that will move us towards the issue of sovereignty and final settlement,” Arman said.

“The Sudan currently undergoes difficult circumstances that make reaching a final and comprehensive peace settlement a strategic issue to serve the higher interests of the country. There is nothing that stands on the way of reaching a settlement before the end of the current round of peace negotiations on March 16,” he added.

On his part, Lazaras Symboyou, senior meddler at the Eastern Africa Intergovernmental Agency for Development (IGAD) that spponsors the negotiations, said that Taha returned to Khartoum to hold consultations and he will be back in 72 hours to resume negotiations.

Head of the government delegation to the negotiations on the three regions Mutraf Sediq has told reporters Sunday January 18, 2004, that the southern rebels have approved to “relinquish their demands for self-determination in the Nuba mountain and the southern Blue Nile regions and that Abyei issue is still an obstacle on the way of negotiations.”