The World - News from Aug. 22, 1989

The first direct peace talks between Sudan’s new military rulers and its rebel foes have collapsed, dashing hopes for an end to one of Africa’s bloodiest civil wars. Lam Akol of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army blamed a dispute over Islamic laws for the impasse. He said the rebels, fighting to end what they consider to be domination of the mainly Christian and animist south by the Muslim north, proposed that Islamic sharia laws be abolished. “But the military delegation rejected our proposals and did not present an alternative,” he said. Sudan’s military junta swept to power in a coup June 30, toppling the civilian government of Prime Minister Sadek Mahdi.