| SPA -- The Sudanese government's top negotiator at talks with rebels fighting a 21-year civil war left for Sudan on Saturday to consult with his president as mediators worked to break an impasse in the peace process. The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army said the decision by Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha to return to Khartoum was an example of government delaying tactics. But Ad'Dirdeiry M. Hamed, Sudan's deputy ambassador to Kenya and a delegate at the talks, dismissed the allegations, saying Taha would be away from the negotiations for only a few days to consult with President Omar el-Bashir. "While the secretariat (mediators) are being briefed ... the vice president thought it prudent to get back to Khartoum to consult with the Sudanese leadership and come back ... when the secretariat is through with what it is doing," Hamed told The Associated Press. |