Arman renews SPLM-N rejection of Sudan Roadmap Agreement

March 30, 2016 (KHARTOUM) –The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North Secretary General Yasir Arman renewed their rejection for the Roadmap Agreement and described the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) brokered deal as a “government document”.

Four opposition groups including the SPLM-N , National Umma Party (NUP), Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Movement- Minni Minnawi declined on 21 March to sign a framework agreement for peace and national dialogue signed by the government and the AUHIP.

In a public meeting held in the SPLM-N controlled areas, Arman said the movement’s chairman Malik Agar, his deputy Abdel Aziz Hilo and his person, held a meeting in Addis Ababa after the AUHIP meeting with the leaders of the three groups participating in the talks, the new and the former chairmen of the Sudanese Congress Party, Omer al-Dugair and Ibrahim al-Sheik Ussama Saeed of the East Front and Hadi Nugdallah of the Umma Party. where they agreed to not sign the text.

“The SPLM-N leadership made an irreversible decision to not sign Addis Ababa document, which is a government document par excellence,” he said, adding that “the mediation had called for consultations and consultations by definition do not lead to an agreement”.

Pointing to the AUHIP, Arman said the mediation “signed the government’s document with the government and the SPLM-N leaders (…) will not be subjected to extortion and will not be affected by poisonous campaigns,” he said.

Arman was referring to the regional and international pressures from the African Union, United Nations and the United States to convince the rebel group to accept the signing of the framework agreement.

International observers close to the talks say that this deal was prepared particularly to stop the war in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, pointing that the SPLM-N had called to before the meeting to separate the humanitarian and political agenda.

The opposition groups argue that Khartoum’s acceptance of synchronized negotiations on cessation of hostilities should not justify the exclusion of important holdout opposition groups and to force them to acknowledge the internal dialogue process as the basis for a political solution.

The Sudan Call forces propose to conclude the Khartoum process and the government and its allied forces can present it as proposals to an inclusive conference held in Khartoum where the opposition can explain its positions in public meeting and through uncensored media.

Arman said he visited the Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains, which was bombed several times by the Sudanese army and met with the American doctor Tom Catena who treats war affected civilians in the SPLM-N controlled area.

(ST)