UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged all the parties in Sudan to resume negotiations after they failed to reach an agreement on cessation of hostilities.
On Aug. 9-14, the Sudanese government, armed groups and opposition parties held the latest round of negotiations on ceasefire arrangements in regions of South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur but ended in failure.
Ban strongly urged all the parties to resume negotiations, and refrain from any attempt to escalate the conflict in these regions.
The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 and fighting between the Sudanese army and opposition groups in South Kordofan and Blue Nile has been going on since 2011.
These conflicts have put around 5.8 million people in Sudan in need of humanitarian assistance.
Last year, the African Union proposed a roadmap agreement for Sudanese rivals, which spells out a process for reaching agreement on ceasefire, endorses a national dialogue between major stakeholders and also includes provisions for humanitarian assistance.
Last Monday, Sudanese opposition groups signed the roadmap agreement, which was considered as a positive sign for the peace talks. The Sudanese government signed the agreement in March.
