A representative of Sudanese civil society has accused the government of manipulating the judiciary and giving excess powers to the security and intelligence services.

The head of a civil society team in Addis Ababa, Dr. Amin Mekki Madeni, met with chief African Union negotiator, former South African President Thabo Mbeki, yesterday and called for more civil society oversight of government.

The meeting came amid negotiations between the Khartoum government and the SPLM-North rebel group. The meetings adjourned on Monday.

Madeni said Mbeki agreed that civil society organizations should participate in future peace negotiations through political parties.

At the close of the meetings, Mbeki told a press conference that the two warring parties needed to conduct wider consultations and then review a draft document presented to them by AU mediators.

But he said he was optimistic about this round of talks, compared to previous iterations and said it might be possible to reach an amicable resolution to the conflict in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions.

A source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, was not as positive. He said the talks collapsed because the SPLM-North presented a plan that would bring autonomous rule to the two areas.

The two chief negotiators at the talks, Ibrahim Ghandour and Yasir Arman, reiterated their commitment to the peace process and vowed to finalize the framework agreement, which paves the way for the signing of a cessation of hostilities and the participation of the rebel movements in the national dialogue.