Sudan and LJM finalizing details of a peace deal in Darfur – top negotiator
May 22, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — The government and the rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) are finalizing the details of a peace agreement as the parties have agreed on the major issues, said Sudan’s top negotiator on Sunday.
Officials from the two parties made several statements these last days about the imminence of a peace agreement between them while talks with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) are deadlocked over different issues and their delegations ceased meetings.
State Minister Amin Hassan Omer, head of Sudan’s government delegation to the peace talks with Darfur rebel groups stated on Sunday in Khartoum that the two parties are developing the necessary arrangements on LJM’s political and military participation in the government in order to complete the peace agreement.
Amin further said they expect the mediation would present a draft peace agreement at the Darfur stakeholders conference, or through the African Union Panel on Sudan led by Thabo Mbeki or the state of Qatar, the official SUNA reported.
After his return from Qatar on Saturday, presidential adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Deen told reporters that the mediation agreed to present the final draft agreement to the conference on 27 May. But the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said he visited Doha to put pressure on the mediation to prepare a final peace deal with LJM.
Sudanese government and JEM stopped talks because of the rebels’ demand to bring a delegation from Darfur, and to open new discussions on different chapters based on the position papers they filed to the mediation and not on the draft agreement discussed with LJM.
The top negotiator further said that JEM and the other rebel movements will get opportunities to join the political process. He said that they stressed during a meeting held with the visiting UN Security Council on Sudan’s keenness to achieve peace in Darfur.
(ST)