The African Union has announced two-days of unofficial talks between the Sudanese government and the SPLA-North rebel group next week in Addis Ababa in order to reach understandings on outstanding issues.

Mahmud Khan, who heads the AU liaison office in Khartoum, told the Sudanese Media Centre Tuesday that the African Union proposed to the government and the SPLA-N to hold talks through mini-delegations from the two sides and the AU High Implementation Panel experts.

Khan pointed out that the two parties welcomed the proposition.

He added that the meeting will be unofficial in an attempt to bring the viewpoints closer on the disagreed points between the two parties.

Talks ended late last month after five days of meetings, with a plan to restart within three weeks. Since then, there have been small skirmishes and reports of troop movements in the two war-affected areas.

Related:

Talks adjourned between Sudan govt and rebel groups (26 Nov.)