President Salva Kiir’s initiative to mediate peace talks between the Khartoum government and rebel groups will not supersede previous framework documents, a top Sudanese official said.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir is expected to mediate peace talks in Juba next week between the Sudanese government and all opposition groups, and will also include armed opposition groups from Darfur.

Fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions in 2011. Conflict in Darfur started in 2003.  Several rounds of talks have failed to end the war.

In a statement to the Sudan news agency SUNA, Sudan’s State Minister of Information, Mamoun Hassan said President Kiir’s initiative will not take precedence over the roadmap signed by the SPLM-N.

He pointed out that the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) would also remain the only framework for any future agreement on Darfur.

The Sudanese official noted that President Kiir’s efforts to end the conflict in Sudan support previous initiatives and framework agreements on Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

The Khartoum government has unilaterally declared a ceasefire with armed oppositions groups in Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur since 2015, and extended it in July.