Sudan’s FM proposes joint meeting between IGAD and Troika on South Sudan peace

August 13, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan Monday has proposed to hold a joint meeting of the IGAD foreign ministers and their counterparts from the Troika countries to discuss ways to support the negotiations for peace in South Sudan, which began its final round in Khartoum.

The proposition was made public by the foreign ministry spokesperson Gharib-Allah Khidir in a statement released after a meeting between the foreign minister El-Dirdeiry Mohamed Ahmed and the U.S., Britain and Norway as well as the European Union ambassadors to Khartoum on Monday.

According to the statement, Ahmed briefed the western diplomats about the outcome of the recent meeting of the IGAD Council of Ministers in Khartoum to discuss the final phase of talks on bracketed issues and the implementation matrix which started in Khartoum Monday.

“The Minister called on the international community to support the peace process and appealed to the Troika countries in particular to provide direct support for the agreement struck in Khartoum under the IGAD umbrella, considering that one of the guarantees of the sustainability of peace in South Sudan,” said the spokesperson.

“In this context, he called for a joint meeting of foreign ministers of the IGAD countries and the foreign ministers of the Troika countries as soon as the two sides agree upon it,” Kidir added.

The South Sudanese government and opposition groups Monday started talks on the Article 4 of the governance chapter related the disputed number of states, creation of five new ministries, judicial reforms, composition of National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC), roles and responsibilities of the presidency.

In statements to the press after the meeting Minister El-Dirdeiry revealed the formation of three subcommittees to discuss the powers of the president and his five deputies, the functions of the five new ministries and a last one to improve and develop the text of referendum on the number of states.

The parties to the peace process have to finalize the talks on the remaining issues and the implementation matrix before the 19 August.

(ST)