Sudan rules out talks with rebel groups over Doha document

May 28, 2011 (DOHA) — Sudan will not open a peace deal that might be signed in Doha to future negotiations with rebel groups which refuse to sign it or are not part of the current process, said presidential adviser Nafie Ali Nafie.

Sudanese government and the Liberation and Equality Movement (LJM) said they agree on 95 percent of the issues negotiated in Doha. Rumors and speculation is circulating in Khartoum that the signing of a peace agreement is imminent between the two parties.

However, the Joint Chief Mediator, Djibril Bassolé, said the conclusions of Darfur stakeholders conference should only constitute a “consensual base” for future negotiations including JEM and Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur.

The government, after the signing of Darfur Peace Agreement in May 2006, responded positively to the international solicitations and accepted to open talks again with the rebel groups who refused to sign but “we will not transform Abuja into a tradition”, Nafie told reporters in Doha.

The presidential assistant further said that the government will endorse the peace document even if no rebel group sign it. He however said the government will seek to convince the rebel to adhere to this agreement.

Regarding the groups that did not take part in the negotiations, Nafie stressed the Doha document deals with all the aspects of the conflict and there are no new developments deserving to hold new talks.

The works of conference faced Saturday some delay because the representatives of displaced persons and refugees boycotted the meetings demanding to release two delegates who are arrested and five others prevented by the security services in Darfur from travelling to Doha.

The Qatari state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud persuaded them to resume their participation in the discussions and pledged to bring those who remained in Sudan to Doha on Sunday.

Al-Mahmoud raised the issue of those arrested and barred from travelling to Doha with the presidential assistant Nafie Ali Nafie as the delegates said they are very concerned about the fate of those they left behind.

However Hussein Abu Sharati the spokesperson of the IDPs and refugees Association in Darfur told Sudan Tribune that those who are chosen by the the joint African Union / United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to attend the Doha conference do not represent the people affected by the eight year conflict.

“We are not concerned by the outcome of this conference and the IDPs delegates represent only themselves,” Abu Sharati added.

(ST)