SPLM-N calls on Obama to press Khartoum for peace and democracy in Sudan
July 27, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-M) has called on the US President Barak Obama to put pressure on the Sudanese government to end war, allow humanitarian access and to achieve democratic reforms in Sudan.
Also, he held a separate meeting with the Sudanese foreign minister Ibrahim Gandour who participated in the IGAD meeting to discuss the normalization of bilateral relations and the ongoing dialogue between two countries which is expected to resume soon.
“We would like to express our hope and that of the millions of forgotten and displaced refugees from Sudan, thousands of them in neighbouring Ethiopia and the victims of human rights violations, that the visit of the President of the United States and the expected visit of his Envoy would take into account the serious concerns and the catastrophic humanitarian and human rights situations in Sudan,” said the SPLM-N in a statement written in English released on Monday.
The rebel group that fights the government forces in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states since June 2011, further urged the American president and his administration to not lift the economic sanctions before Khartoum stops war in away to address the humanitarian crisis and to ensure freedoms and democratic reform in the country.
Obama should not “allow the Sudan government to use its engagement with the U.S. to continue genocide, human rights violations, to deny humanitarian access, to meddle in regional affairs and to buy time for the dictatorship,” the statement said.
Nothing transpired from the meeting between Obama and Ghandour which is the first with a Sudanese official since his election. However, Washington at different times urged Khartoum to end the conflict in the Two Areas and Darfur and linked the lift of sanctions with the signing of peace agreement with the Sudanese rebels.
TO THE AFRICAN UNION MEDIATOR
The African Union chief mediator Thabo Mbeki is expected in the Sudanese capital this week to discuss the resumption of peace talks between the government and the SPLM-N, and to re-energize the ongoing efforts to launch an inclusive national dialogue in Sudan
The SPLM-N called on Mbeki to make sure that Khartoum government is “ready to start a genuine process that will immediately stop the wars from Blue Nile to the Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan and Darfur.”
The statement further emphasized on the need to create a conducive environment where the basic freedoms are guaranteed before to engage in the national dialogue.
The SPLM-N leadership further reiterated the call of the opposition forces for a new mandate giving the chief mediator the necessary means to conduct the political process.
“We are expecting and asking the African Union to give a clear mandate for the AUHIP and President Mbeki to facilitate the national constitutional dialogue,” said the statement.
Last March, the Sudanese government declined an invitation to hold a two-day meeting to reach an agreement on the preparations for the national dialogue which should be held inside the Sudan.
The preparatory meeting was part of an African Union roadmap to facilitate the inclusive conference on peace and political reforms. The Sudanese government had accepted the plan.
The Sudan Call forces, including political and armed opposition groups, call to hold the dialogue outside Sudan with the participation of the African Union and the international community particularly the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.
(ST)