Sudan's Government angrily dismissed rebel demands...

Sudan's Government angrily dismissed rebel demands that Islamic or Sharia law should not be enforced in the capital, Khartoum.
Sudanese Vice-President Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha was speaking as peace talks with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels were set to resume in neighbouring Kenya on January 23.
The Christian and animist SPLA says Khartoum should have a special status if all Sudanese are to feel at home there. The division of oil wealth and political power between the south and the Muslim north are other key issues to be tackled in Kenya.
The peace talks were postponed earlier in the month after the government refused to include three regions in central Sudan in the discussions.
Taha told state radio that the government was committed to Sharia law in northern Sudan and that the south would have special status.
He added that the application of Sharia law in Khartoum was not up for discussion.
The SPLA has said that it wants Khartoum Sharia-free, or the capital of the country moved to the south. The BBC's correspondent in Khartoum said the government is reported to be furious with that suggestion. Both sides have said they will continue discussing issues such as power-sharing.
About two million people have been killed in 19 years of civil war.
A referendum on self-determination is to be held in the south in 2008.