Darfur JEM says open to unity with other rebel groups, criticize NCP

February 2, 2010 (PARIS) – The Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said this week that it is open to the idea of uniting with other rebel groups provided they have the “will” and also slammed the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) accusing it of lacking seriousness in the negotiations process.

The JEM official spokesperson Ahmed Hussein Adam told Sudan Tribune by phone from Doha that they held a” meeting with the mediation team including United Nations-African Union (AU) joint mediator Dijibril Bassole and the Qatari state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed Bin-Abdullah Al-Mahmoud.

Adam said that his movement assessed the progress of the efforts to resume talks with Khartoum as well the status of other Darfur rebel groups currently present in Doha including Sudan Liberation Movement SLM-Revolutionary forces as well as Addis Ababa groups which is comprise of those Darfur rebels whose representatives met last year in the Ethiopian capital under American auspices.

The JEM official said that the issue of “integrative unity” with other groups is on the table adding that his movement has always been open to joining hands with all the marginalized population of Sudan and those who share the same political objectives.

He added that his movement wants to see a will among the other groups with regard to the idea revealing that they have so far received encouraging signs in that direction.

Last month, Amin Hassan Omer, a state minister for culture and information and member of the government delegation to Darfur peace talks rejected any preconditions from any party, adding they would negotiate with those who attend from Addis Ababa or Tripoli groups or Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

He was alluding to JEM’s demand to exclude the other factions – formed in Tripoli and Addis Ababa — and to limit the negotiations to JEM and the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur (SLM-AW).

The JEM spokesperson chided the government side for insisting on a timeframe by which to conclude the negotiations emphasizing that this shows a lack of interest on the part of the government to reach a sustainable peace in the war ravaged region.

“This is unacceptable. The government must enter the negotiations for the sake of reaching a proper agreement on its merits and not within a specific timeframe,” he said.

“The coming elections is the government priority not ours. We are not concerned by them. The whole electoral process lacks any credibility in the first place” Adam added.

The major Darfur rebel groups boycotted both the census and voter registration processes which came ahead of the April general elections.

Sudanese officials along with the chairman of the AU panel on Darfur Thabo Mbeki have said that they want a resolution to the Darfur crisis prior to the elections.

(ST)