CORRECTION: Darfur rebel leader calls for transitional government in Sudan

Correct paragraphs 11-12 related to the CPA with additional details

March 4, 2009 (PARIS) — The leader of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) has called for the formation of a national coalition government to lead the country out of the current political situation and settle the Darfur crisis.

On the eve of the ICC decision over an arrest warrant request for the Sudanese president, the political situation is seen as very unstable despite the huge efforts done by Khartoum to rally the political forces and the civil society behind its president.

Government officials have also warned they would not tolerate any support to the world tribunal on the cases of Darfur crimes. They publicly said they would crack down on ICC sympathsizers.

Abdel Wahid Al-Nur, the rebel chief, called today for a large coalition government for the Sudanese democratic forces to end the six year conflict in Darfur and organize general elections in the country.

“We in the SLM believe that Sudanese democratic forces which adhere to the respect of human rights and state of law and citizenship” Al-Nur said.

The rebel leader further said that the agenda of this transitional government is to provide security and to end the six-year violence practiced by the government of the National Congress Party against the defenseless civilians in Darfur.

On the national level, he said the main task of this government is to maintain public order in the country and prevent any chaos as well as the management of the daily affairs of the state. This proposed government, according to Al-Nur, should organize a constitutional roundtable to discuss ways to ensure and implement civil liberties and human rights in the country.

He pointed out that the purpose of such a conference would be to determine “once and for all” the endless debates in the country about the place of religion in the state by adopting the principle of the secular state as one of the pillars that can guarantee the equal citizenship rights in a country characterized by its cultural and ethnic diversity.

“Of course a bill of rights also should be adopted to guarantee the supremacy of civil liberties, like the freedom of expression, freedom of thinking, freedom of religion and freedom of speech, in order protect the individual from oppressive governments,” he further added.

Since more than six months the two partners of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) have discussed the security and press bills and didn’t yet reached a definitive ground on two issues crucial for the holding of a free election in the country.

With regard to the CPA, the rebel leader stressed the importance of the 2005 agreement and considered it as an historic achievement. However he pointed out that the political definition of Sudan into two entities, ‘North’ and ‘South’, as referred to in the peace deal, is not correct.

Thus the CPA should be revised and upgraded to include all of northern Sudan’s diversity, he argued. He said that this North-South division does not reflect the geographical and political reality of this part of the Sudan.

He further added that northern Sudan is so heterogenous and not like the vision projected by the CPA as adhering to the Islamist vision of the National Congress Party.

“We need to consolidate the national values and to provide more powers to the regions in the country” he further pointed out, “all these steps aim to preserve the national unity of the Sudan.”

Al-Nur, who said that this transitional government should be led by his movement, proposed that it must have a clear mission and fixed time to achieve its goals before the run-off free and fair general elections monitored by the international community.

Al-Nur, in making his statement said he is aware that such proposal represents a new approach to settle Darfur crisis. He added that this would allow to address at the same time. “our two major concern is the future of the Sudan and the rights of Darfur people.”

The SLM founder refused last month to take part in a peace process mediated by the Qatari government and the joint envoy. He asks first to provide security to the IDPs who should regain their homes and villages after the disarmament of the Janjaweed militias and expulsion of government supported newcomers from their lands.

In a roadmap released in September 2007, the SLM says that peace talks should be dedicated to discuss “the root causes of the problem.”

A holder of law degree from Khartoum University, Al Nur worked as lawyer before to hold arms and fight against government policy in Darfur. He created the SLM ten years before to start the insurgency.

(ST)