Heavy fighting in south Sudan, talks continue
NAIROBI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Sudanese rebels said on Monday the government had captured the southern town of Ler in renewed fighting, which contravenes a ceasefire agreed by parties holding peace talks in Kenya.
"The government has launched a major offensive and this morning took the town of Ler," George Garang, a spokesman for the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), told Reuters.
The government was not immediately available for comment. Aid workers confirmed there was heavy fighting in Western Upper Nile, the oil-rich region where Ler is situated.
The SPLA and the Sudanese government, currently holding negotiations in Nairobi to try to end their 20-year war, have signed a temporary ceasefire agreement to try and bolster the peace process.
The truce is supposed to hold until March 31, but has been broken many times.
The Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) aid agency said it had evacuated its five staff from Thonyor and Dablual, close to where the fighting was taking place.
"We evacuated yesterday (Sunday) from two places in Western Upper Nile due to fighting," Arjan Hehenkamp, head of mission in south Sudan said. "The fighting was short but fairly intensive."
TALKS IN "SERIOUS SPIRIT
Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) , the United Nations umbrella group which provides humanitarian relief to Sudan, also said it was aware of fighting in the region.
"Western Upper Nile saw some of the worst fighting we have seen in the war over the last nine months, and there has clearly been fighting this year," an OLS spokesman said.
On Sunday, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said in published remarks that the peace efforts in Nairobi were going ahead in a "serious spirit."
Both sides have blamed the other for instigating fighting in the south since the ceasefire was signed in October, and say it risks destroying the atmosphere of trust built up over more than six months of negotiations.
The third round of peace talks began last week to discuss the issues of sharing out power and wealth in Africa's biggest country.
The first round of talks led to a breakthrough agreement on holding a referendum on independence for the south and a framework deal on separating religion and state in non-Muslim areas. The second round struggled to make concrete progress.
The war began in 1983 and has killed an estimated two million people. The rebels, based in the south which is largely animist and Christian, want more autonomy from Khartoum, situated in the majority Muslim north.
