SPLM-N to participate in consultative meeting with the Sudanese government
February 15, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The rebel Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) said it has received an invitation to attend “a strategic consultative meeting” next March in Addis Ababa under the auspices of the African mediation.
According to the SPLM-N, the meeting wouldn’t be an alternative for the dialogue preparatory meeting. The invitation was also extended to the Sudanese government, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) led by Minni Minnawi, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Gibril Ibrahim and the National Umma Party (NUP).
The statement pointed the SPLM-N leadership decided to attend the meeting urgent consultations between its chairman Malik Agar, deputy chairman Abdel-Aziz al-Hilo and secretary-general Yasir Arman.
The SPLM-N vowed to present a unified position for the “Sudan Call” forces in the proposed strategic consultative meeting after conducting the necessary consultations with its parties as well as consulting with the Reform Now Movement (RNM) led by Ghazi Attabani and the other forces of change.
The rebel group which is fighting the government in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states said it had already contacted several leaders of the “Sudan Call”, saying it wouldn’t allow for dividing the opposition forces particularly the “Sudan Call” parties.
The Sudanese government refuses to take part in the pre-dialogue meeting as designed in the African Union roadmap. However, it said accepting to discuss the matter only with the armed groups and the NUP because its leader is based outside the country.
For the other opposition parties, Khartoum says they can directly the join dialogue conference stressing they have the needed freedom to hold public meetings and advertise for their ideas
The statement renewed pledge that the SPLM-N won’t participate in the internal ongoing dialogue conference but won’t reject any equitable and credible dialogue that begins by ending the war and allowing freedoms and achieves the comprehensive solution and leads to real change.
Meanwhile, the SPLM-N pointed that it would continue to repulse the government summer military campaign in South Kordofan and Blue Nile irrespective of the proposed strategic consultative meeting, saying it would also mobilize the masses towards the popular uprising.
“When we defeat the regime’s military option and when the uprising knocks on the regime’s doors, then the comprehensive peace would be achieved”, read the statement
As peace talks with the rebel groups also are stalled, the Sudan Call forces including political and armed groups pledged to develop peaceful means to topple the regime and called to mobilize the Sudanese street.
Nonetheless, regional mediators and international facilitators continue their efforts to reach a compromise acceptable to all the parties to end the armed conflicts, open humanitarian access to the war affected areas and to hold an inclusive constitutional conference.
(ST)