Sudan’s NCP softens stance on dialogue with al-Hilu in S. Kordofan

July 24, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A senior official in the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Sudan expressed willingness to negotiate with Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu who has been leading an armed rebellion since last month in the oil-rich state of South Kordofan.

Al-Hilu was the deputy governor of the state which borders Darfur and South Sudan but last May lost in elections to incumbent governor Ahmed Haroun who was running on NCP ticket. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) figure accused Khartoum of rigging the vote and vowed not to recognize the results.

In an interview with Saudi owned Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper yesterday, al-Hilu repeated widespread accusations by UN and rights groups that the Sudanese government has been pursuing ethnic cleansing policy in South Kordofan.

He also denied claims by Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) of military victories against his forces and said that many Sudanese soldiers defected to his side.

However, the SPLA leader in the state said he is ready to negotiate with Khartoum through a third party anywhere outside Sudan.

The head of the NCP political bureau Qutbi al-Mahdi said his party welcomes al-Hilu’s willingness to engage in negotiations.

Al-Mahdi stressed that negotiations requires genuine desire by the parties involved adding that al-Hilu knows what the government wants and as such the NCP is prepared to begin dialogue with him.

The remarks by al-Mahdi marks a departure from the hardliner stance taken by other NCP figures including President Omer Hassan al-Bashir. It may also be an indication of a difficulty encountered by the SAF in quelling the rebellion.

Bashir scrapped an accord signed by his powerful aide Nafie Ali Nafie with SPLM-North in Addis Ababa that would have paved the way for a ceasefire in South Kordofan. He ordered SAF to continue military operations and called for the arrest of al-Hilu so he can be tried for what he described as crimes against innocent civilians.

The Sudanese president also openly faulted his negotiators for agreeing to the terms of the accord brokered by the African Union (AU) in a sign of deep divisions within the NCP.

Since the eruption of violence in South Kordofan in early June, more than 70,000 people have been displaced, according to UN figures. The clashes escalated into artillery and aerial bombardment amid reports of ethnic targeting of the Nuba population which largely fought alongside the SPLM during Sudan’s second North-South civil war.

(ST)