CAIRO, June 1 (UPI) -- Sudan's southern rebel leader Wednesday said a new constitution for the country ruined by 20 years of civil strife will be ready within two weeks.
"The committee in charge of drafting the transitional constitution is expected to complete its mission by the middle of June," John Garang, head of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army, said.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Garang said the draft constitution would be submitted to parliaments in southern and north Sudan for ratification.
He said he expected a national unity government to be formed by the first week of July in conformity with the peace agreement signed in Kenya last January.
The agreement provided for sharing national wealth and powers between the mainly Christian south and the Muslim north of Sudan, making Khartoum the national and secular capital of the country and granting southerners the right for self-determination at the end of a transitional period of six years.
Garang said he discussed with Mubarak the "importance of achieving a comprehensive peace in Sudan, including the war-torn Darfur region and Eastern Sudan."
