East Sudan opposition says five members detained

KHARTOUM, Mar 11 (Reuters) Five members of the main opposition group in eastern Sudan were arrested or detained, party officials said today, in a move they said hindered any chance to start long-delayed peace talks.

The east Sudan strife, overshadowed by bloodier regional conflicts in Sudan's south and western Darfur region, has simmered for about a decade. The government last year agreed for the first time to peace talks but they have yet to begin.

Abdallah Moussa Abdallah, secretary-general of the Beja Congress Party in the main town of Port Sudan, said two leading members were arrested three days ago in the el-Gadaref region.

''Two were arrested in el-Gadaref, al-Amin al-Hajj, the president there and Hassan al-Masri, the treasurer,'' he told Reuters from Port Sudan. ''Three were detained for investigation in Kassala,'' he added.

Abdallah said he did not know why authorities had arrested Hajj and Masri, and government officials were not immediately available to comment.

Abdallah said the three in Kassala had been questioned on Friday and again today over travelling to the rebel-held area of Hamesh Koreb on the border with Eritrea.

''But they went there to hold consultations with commanders because they are members of the negotiating team for the talks,'' he said, adding this hindered progress towards convening the talks.

A joint force of eastern and southern rebels control the small areas of Hamesh Koreb. The former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) reached the east during more than two decades of bitter north-south civil war.

But under a 2005 southern peace deal, SPLA forces will withdraw from the east and the northern army should take control of the areas, a move the Beja oppose.

Mediators had hoped eastern peace talks would have started and been close to resolving the conflict before the SPLA were due to withdraw on January. 9 2006, but rebel divisions and a government incursion into the area have delayed the talks.

REUTERS CH PM1607