Mediator Lazaro Sumbyeiwo arrived here Tuesday for six days of talks about the Kenyan-sponsored negotiations between the Islamist government in Khartoum and rebels fighting on behalf of Christians and animists in the south, the official said.

Sumbyeiwo "is not conveying specific proposals for peace and is exploring during this tour ideas of the government and the rebel movement on different issues," Sudan's presidential peace advisor, Ghazi Salah Eddin Atabani, told reporters after one hour of talks with the Kenyan.

Atabani said he and his colleagues talked with Sumbyeiwo and his aides about sharing power and resources as well as security arrangements during a six-year transitional period ahead of a referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan.

These issues were raised in the fifth round of peace talks that concluded late last month in Kenya.

A protocol signed in Machakos, Kenya last July provided for a six-year period of autonomy for southern Sudan ahead of a referendum to decide whether the south would secede or be granted more autonomy.

After hearing views from the two sides, Sumbyeiwo "will prepare reconciliatory proposals for the two sides to consider as a framework for a peace agreement," Atabani said.

Sumbyeiwo is scheduled to meet later Wednesday with Riek Gai, the chairman of the Southern States Coordination Council, as well as other officials. He will conclude his visit by meeting with President Omar al-Beshir on Sunday.

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