SPLM-N will stick to its demand for comprehensive solution: Arman
October 22, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Ten days ahead of a new round of talks between the warring parties in the Two Areas, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) said their negotiating team will stick to its demand for a inclusive solution in Sudan.
In written remarks extended to Sudan Tribune on Thursday, the SPLM-N secretary general and chief negotiator Yasir Arman reiterated their rejection of any partial solution with Khartoum.
“We will go to Addis Ababa and behind us nine rounds where we demand a comprehensive solution until it became a major issue in the Sudanese, regional and international agenda. Also we tightly articulated between the issues of how to rule Sudan and how to rule the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan /Nuba Mountains on new bases within a united Sudan,” Arman said.
The Sudanese government and the SPLM-N confirmed they will meet in Addis Ababa on 2 November under the auspice of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) to discuss a solution to end the conflict in the Two Areas.
Arman said the mediation team however is still discussing the agenda of the meeting and whether it will start with the pre-dialogue meeting or with the cessation of hostilities.
Regarding the strategy of his delegation in the talks, He said they will go to discuss a cessation of hostilities on humanitarian grounds.
We will “put the issue of the delivery of humanitarian assistance as a top priority and as a right of civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law. Its denial was and is still a war crime,” Arman said
A leading member of the ruling National Congress Party and government chief negotiator on Darfur file, Amin Hassan Omer confirmed that the 2 November meeting will be only dedicated to the Two Areas.
The government delegation will carry “an integrated vision” for humanitarian and security issues in order to end the conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, Omer further said.
The SPLM-N chief negotiator said they are preparing for a meeting with the Sudan Call forces before the resumption of peace talks in order to coordinate the positions of the opposition political alliance which rejects to join the national dialogue until Khartoum accepts the pre-dialogue meeting and implement confidence building measures.
He further said the deputy chief negotiator Gen. Gagod Mukwar and two other generals- Ahmed al-Umda and Joseph Tikka – will not be part of the SPLM-N negotiating team as they are busy with the SPLA-N preparations to repel government attacks.
They will be replaced by the SPLM-N secretary-generals in South Kordofan and Blue Nile respectively Amar Ammun who will be also the deputy chief negotiator and Abdallah Ibrahim.
FORCED DISPLACEMENT
On a related issue, Arman warned against government plans to forcibly transfer the Blue Nile population from their fertile and rich areas to allocate it to what he called the regime’s looting groups and investment parasite business.
He said the government expelled the Ingassana and Arab population of Abu Garn area under the pretext of collaborating with the rebellion. He added the government offered these areas to companies owned by cronies of the regime.
He stressed that this policy will destroy the national fabric and create problems that will be difficult to treat in the future.
(ST)