Egypt, Darfur faction agree on importance of united rebel stance
Dec 13, 2006 (CAIRO) — A Darfur rebel faction and Egypt agreed on the importance to find out a common ground between all the rebel groups before to start peace negotiations with the Sudanese government, a rebel faction said today.
A delegation of Sudan Liberation Movement faction led by Ahmed Abdelshafi Bassey, at the end of its visit to Cairo on Wednesday said that they agreed with Egyptian officials on the necessity to establish a common position for all the Darfur rebel groups in order to hold talks with Khartoum for a lasting peace in Darfur.
Jaffar Menro, the spokesperson of the SLM- Bassey told Sudan Tribune that the visit was very successful. He said that Bassey held talks with Mohamed Osman al Mirghani, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the representative of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Popular Front for Peace and Development (PFPD), an opposition group of Darfur’s Arab tribes.
The delegation also met the SPLM representative in Cairo and the representative of Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance, another Darfur opposition party led by Ahmed Ibrahim Diraig.
On the other hand, the DFPD said in a press statement that the meeting with Bassey tackled ways to coordinate the action of the tow groups and reunification of the different Darfur rebel groups. Last week, the armed wing of the DFPD the Army of Popular Forces attacked the position of the Sudanese army at Zubair garrison in South Darfur.
Al-Mirghani, discussed with Bassey the reunification of the SLM factions and Darfur’s groups in general. Hatim Alsir the spokesperson of the DUP said that al-Mirghani would launch an initiative in coordination with Cairo to federate the Darfur rebel groups in order to adopt a joint position paper for the expected talks with the Sudanese government.
Menro said that Bassey held a public meeting with Sudanese community in Cairo Tuesday.
During his three-day visit to Egypt Bassey was accompanied by a delegation of Babikr Mohamed Abdallah, Dr Nouri Abdallah, Jaffar Menro and al-Hadi Idriss.
(ST)