SLA-Minnawi warns DPA needed to be better publicised - Minnawi due in Khartoum soon

July 9 2006 SLA optimistic on peace deal despite setbacks - Reuters report - excerpt:

Mahgoub Hussein, Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) rebel group spokesman and member of a team sent to Khartoum to implement the May 5 peace deal, said the agreement was widely accepted and that the Khartoum government was earnest in seeking peace.

"There is widespread acceptance of the deal among the people, and we must implement it so the people ... will feel there's a real change in their lives," Hussein told Reuters.

"We think the government is working with earnestness in this matter and it wants to achieve peace in the province," he added.

Hussein acknowledged the setbacks, and warned the Khartoum government against using delaying tactics and acting on the deal without clarity and transparency. He also said the peace deal needed to be better publicised to overcome public reservations.

"The movement has not yet received an official copy of the government's plans pertaining to the disarmament of the Janjaweed...We think this is negligence, and one of the negative points we hold against the Sudanese government," Hussein said.

Minni Arcua Minnawi, the leader of the SLA faction which signed the peace deal, is due to arrive in Khartoum within days, Hussein said. His visit will be the first since signing.