Sudan’s Bashir urges Darfur rebels to hold dialogue for peace
December 18, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Tuesday urged the rebel movements in the conflict-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur to hold dialogue with the government in order to realize the peace.
“There is no development without peace, and there is no peace without dialogue,” al-Bashir said.
He reiterated his government’s commitment to a unilateral ceasefire it had adopted in Darfur and its keenness to replace fighting with dialogue for the interests of the Sudanese people.
Under the mediation of the United Nations and the African Union (AU), the Sudanese government held the latest round of peace talks with some seven rebel factions in Libya’s coastal city of Sirte on Oct. 27.
A boycott of the main rebel groups, including the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) as well as a main faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), had made it impossible to achieve tangible outcomes in the negotiations.
The Sudanese government has announced its readiness to start the next round of negotiations at any time defined by the UN and AU mediators.
(Xinhua)
Majok e Deng
Sudan’s Bashir urges Darfur rebels to hold dialogue for peace
This president seems to have realized the logic of revolution. The rebel in Darfur revolted because they were not included in the government, rather they were considered as second class citizens-the same category with the South Sudan, Blue Nile, and the Nuba Mountains. These regions were neglected systematically and they didn’t have other option but to take up arms against the oppressive government-Arabism and Islamism. The regimes that have ruled Khartoum since Idependent believe in a notion that the Sudan problems can be solved through military operations but this notion has proved ineffective for the last two decades of war in Sudan particularly South Sudan. Now the the traditionalists and Islamic Fundamentalists in Khartoum do not embrace unity of a reform Sudan because they do not want to be ruled by anybody coming from these marginalised regions of Sudan. The SPlM members in the Government of National Unity, who happen to be from South Sudan are not happy with the way they were being handle in Khartoum. It is important that they are given real powers because that will pave a way for Peace in Darfur.
Majok e Deng