With time running out for Sudan's government and southern rebels to reach a final peace deal before a Dec. 31 deadline, both sides said on Monday they were hopeful of resolving issues blocking an accord to end 21 years of civil war. The Khartoum government and Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) pledged to end Africa's longest running civil war in Sudan's oil-rich south during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council last month. Delegates said Sudanese First Vice President Ali Osman Taha and SPLA/M leader John Garang have held face-to-face talks late into the night in the Kenyan Rift Valley town of Naivasha in a push to resolve sticking points before the deadline. Thorny issues include the funding of the SPLA/M forces, whether sharia law will apply in Khartoum during an interim period, the powers of a vice-president and payment of lucrative oil revenues to the south. "The talks are going well. Both parties are determined to meet the deadline," one of the top SPLA/M negotiators Pagan Amum told Reuters. "The two delegations are working on the issues, those that they are unable to resolve are being discussed by the two principals. We plan to finish it by the end of this week." A senior diplomat at Sudan's embassy in Nairobi, Ahmed Dirdeiry said: "We're very much hopeful. We believe we can still meet the deadline." --SP 1821 Local Time 1521 GMT
