The World - News from June 11, 1989

Sudanese government and rebel delegations met for the first time to discuss the implementation of an accord that could end their six-year-old war. Both sides said the pact, which calls for an immediate cease-fire, would not bring peace in itself but would lead to a conference to decide such disputed issues as the role of Islamic law and economic development in southern Sudan. The talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia--expected to end late today or Monday--are the first between the two sides since the war began in 1983, although Prime Minister Sadek Mahdi and John Garang, head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, met informally in Addis Ababa three years ago.