Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdouk visited the rebel stronghold of Cauda in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan State today, Thursday, the first visit by a senior official from Khartoum since the clashes resumed in the region more than eight years ago.
Kauda, 90 km east of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, is the base of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North and is the main group fighting the government in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
Abdel-Aziz El-Helou, one of the leaders of the movement, invited Hamduk to visit Kaouda during peace talks with other rebel factions hosted in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, last September.
"This is a great opportunity to assure our people in Kauda and all the Sudanese in every corner of our beloved country that your transitional government strives to achieve a comprehensive and just peace," a statement to the Prime Minister's Office quoted Hamdouk as saying.
He added before a crowd gathered to meet him upon his arrival that the government "pays great attention to all areas of Sudan, especially the regions affected by the war, which have been marginalized for decades."
There were clashes between the movement and the Sudanese government in 2011, shortly before the secession of South Sudan.
Residents said at the time that the continued bombing of Sudanese aircraft had caused tens of thousands of civilians to flee to the mountains.
The government of the ousted ex-president, Omar al-Bashir, has been fighting the rebels in Kordofan, Darfur, and the Blue Nile for decades.
The Popular Movement is one of the largest armed factions in Sudan.