Sudanese opposition groups head to Addis for meeting over peace Roadmap signing

August 7, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese opposition delegations on Sunday left Khartoum heading to Addis Ababa for a meeting on the signing of the African Union brokered Roadmap Agreement.

Last March, four groups of the opposition umbrella rejected the a roadmap proposed by the African mediators, saying it excludes other opposition groups, and omits important confidence building measures such as political freedoms and release of political detainees and prisoners.

However after five months, they agreed to ink it after receiving reassurance from the head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki. The signing ceremony is expected to take place in Addis Ababa on Monday 8 August. After what, the armed groups will meet with the government delegations for talks on the cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access on Tuesday.

In statement extended to Sudan Tribune Sunday, the opposition Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) said that a delegation from Sudan Call groups including its chairperson Omer al-Dugair , Yahya al-Hueesein from the Sudanese Socialist Ba’ath Party, and Mohamed Suliman from the Sudanese National Alliance will leave to Addis Ababa to participate in a meeting with the AUHIP chair.

The three groups are member of the National Consensus Forces (NCF). But the left parties alliance divided over the Roadmap Agreement. Other members, as the Sudanese Communist Party, refuse negotiations with the government saying the opposition should work only on how to overthrow the regime through popular uprising.

Also, a delegation from National Umma Party headed by the party’s Vice President, Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi, also left to Addis Ababa on Sunday. The party’s leader Sadiq al-Mhadi travelled to the meeting from Cairo where he is residing.

In a separate statement the Sudanese Revolutionary Front led by Gibril Ibrahim also confirmed its participation in the meeting.

The group, in a statement signed by its spokesperson al-Tom Hajo, called for an equal and serious talks.

“We will not participate in a dialogue without a compass and clear objectives. Also, we will not repeat the experience of agreements in which the guarantor is the ruler (who used to not honour the agreements he signs),” Hajo said.

In a related development, the Future Forces for Change (FFG), a coalition of Islamist groups calling for reforms in Sudan, announced that a delegation including its chairperson Ghazi Salah al-Din al-Attabani, his deputy Abdel-Gadir Ibrahim, FFG Secretary General Farah al-Agar, FFG Foreign Relations Secretary Omer Osman and Mayada Soar al-Dahab a member of the FFG Leadership Council will travel to Addis Ababa to attend the Roadmap Agreement signing ceremony and attend as observer talks on security arrangements, humanitarian assistance to the Two Areas and Darfur.

The talks on the cessation of hostilities and the humanitarian access are scheduled for 9 August.

(ST)