<p>A senior Sudanese rebel leader Monday called for a three-month extension to finalise a peace deal with the Khartoum government, as talks between the two sides are to resume next week.</p>.<p>Yasir Arman, deputy leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), also called on Washington to remove Sudan from its blacklist of "state sponsors of terrorism".</p>.<p>Peace talks opened in October in Juba between Khartoum's new transitional government and rebels who fought now-ousted president Omar al-Bashir's forces in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.</p>.<p>A second round of talks is set to begin next Tuesday in the South Sudanese capital, and a peace deal had been expected to be struck a few days later on December 14.</p>.<p>But Arman, who is a senior leader in the Sudan Revolutionary Front rebel alliance, said more time was needed.</p>.<p>"We call for an extension of the Juba Declaration by three months until March 8," he told reporters in Khartoum on Monday.</p>.<p>"We hope that the December 10 round will be the last and peace will be achieved," he added, without giving a specific reason for the extra time needed to reach that goal.</p>.<p>Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in fighting between rebel groups and Sudanese security forces in the three conflict zones during Bashir's rule.</p>.<p>Arman said the first round of talks held in Juba had accomplished what several negotiations with Bashir's regime had not achieved in eight years.</p>.<p>"We do not want our country to collapse. The situation in the country is fragile and needs joint action from all sides," he said.</p>.<p>The transitional authorities, tasked with leading the way to civilian rule after Bashir's ouster in April, have made ending wars in these regions their top priority.</p>.<p>"We support peace ... We are looking for a national project and a strategic exit for armed rebel movements," Arman said.</p>.<p>He also urged Washington to drop Sudan from its blacklist.</p>.<p>"After the fall of the National Congress Party, Sudan is no longer a state that sponsors terrorism," Arman said, referring to Bashir's party.</p>.<p>Washington had added Sudan to its blacklist in 1993 for Khartoum's alleged support to Islamist militant groups.</p>.<p>Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden lived in Sudan between 1992 to 1996.</p>.<p>Washington has made reaching peace in Sudan's war zones a key condition for removing the country from the blacklist.</p>.<p>Sudan's new Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is currently in the United States where he is expected to hold talks on this issue.</p>.<p>Washington had also imposed a trade embargo on Sudan in 1997, which it lifted in October 2017.</p>.<p>Sudanese officials say the terrorism tag still keeps foreign investors away from the northeast African country, in turn delaying its economic recovery.</p>.<p>It was an acute economic crisis that triggered nationwide protests against Bashir in December 2018, and finally led to his overthrow on April 10.</p>
<p>A senior Sudanese rebel leader Monday called for a three-month extension to finalise a peace deal with the Khartoum government, as talks between the two sides are to resume next week.</p>.<p>Yasir Arman, deputy leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), also called on Washington to remove Sudan from its blacklist of "state sponsors of terrorism".</p>.<p>Peace talks opened in October in Juba between Khartoum's new transitional government and rebels who fought now-ousted president Omar al-Bashir's forces in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.</p>.<p>A second round of talks is set to begin next Tuesday in the South Sudanese capital, and a peace deal had been expected to be struck a few days later on December 14.</p>.<p>But Arman, who is a senior leader in the Sudan Revolutionary Front rebel alliance, said more time was needed.</p>.<p>"We call for an extension of the Juba Declaration by three months until March 8," he told reporters in Khartoum on Monday.</p>.<p>"We hope that the December 10 round will be the last and peace will be achieved," he added, without giving a specific reason for the extra time needed to reach that goal.</p>.<p>Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in fighting between rebel groups and Sudanese security forces in the three conflict zones during Bashir's rule.</p>.<p>Arman said the first round of talks held in Juba had accomplished what several negotiations with Bashir's regime had not achieved in eight years.</p>.<p>"We do not want our country to collapse. The situation in the country is fragile and needs joint action from all sides," he said.</p>.<p>The transitional authorities, tasked with leading the way to civilian rule after Bashir's ouster in April, have made ending wars in these regions their top priority.</p>.<p>"We support peace ... We are looking for a national project and a strategic exit for armed rebel movements," Arman said.</p>.<p>He also urged Washington to drop Sudan from its blacklist.</p>.<p>"After the fall of the National Congress Party, Sudan is no longer a state that sponsors terrorism," Arman said, referring to Bashir's party.</p>.<p>Washington had added Sudan to its blacklist in 1993 for Khartoum's alleged support to Islamist militant groups.</p>.<p>Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden lived in Sudan between 1992 to 1996.</p>.<p>Washington has made reaching peace in Sudan's war zones a key condition for removing the country from the blacklist.</p>.<p>Sudan's new Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is currently in the United States where he is expected to hold talks on this issue.</p>.<p>Washington had also imposed a trade embargo on Sudan in 1997, which it lifted in October 2017.</p>.<p>Sudanese officials say the terrorism tag still keeps foreign investors away from the northeast African country, in turn delaying its economic recovery.</p>.<p>It was an acute economic crisis that triggered nationwide protests against Bashir in December 2018, and finally led to his overthrow on April 10.</p>