Sudan’s opposition calls for accepting UNSC resolution
May 5, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – A number of opposition parties in Sudan called on the government to accept the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution issued this week ordering Khartoum and Juba to resume negotiations on post-independence issues including oil, Abyei, border demarcation and citizenship and reaching agreements within a specified timeframe
Sudanese officials have given contradictory statements regarding whether they will comply with the resolution. Yesterday, Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti criticized those calling on the government to reject it.
The UNSC resolution was in response to the worst military clashes that erupted last month between Khartoum and Juba since they parted ways in July 2011. South Sudan briefly seized oil-rich Heglig which supplied half of Sudan’s oil production
The National Consensus Forces (NCF) opposition umbrella stated that peace is not attained except through peace and dialogue on the negotiating table and called for looking into humanitarian issues and delivering aid to affected population in conflict zones.
Sideeg Yusuf, a leading figure in the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP), said that war leads to nothing but destruction and losses noting that the UNSC resolution caused divisions within the government and called for immediate implementation of the council’s decision.
In a related issue, the Sudanese former Prime Minister and leader of the National Umma Party (NUP) al-Sadiq al-Mahdi said that the government must sit down for talks with the leaders of the Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) fighting the government in the border states of the Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
He described SPLM-N leaders Yasser Arman, Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu and Malik Agar as the “wisest people” urging Khartoum to find a way to deal with them. The Sudanese government labeled those leaders as fugitives and asked the Interpol to issue Red Notices for them.
Al-Mahdi said that opposition carried arms as a reaction to government choices of subordination or rebellion.
The ex-PM criticized president Omer Hassan al-Bashir for his fiery speeches describing South Sudan ruling party as “insects” suggesting that it contains racist connotation.
He further added that the government has no means to change the Juba regime like the president vowed to calling it “suicidal” and “impossible”.
Al-Mahdi statements mark a stark departure from his positions in the past in which he criticized the rebel alliance known as Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) for carrying arms against the central government.
(ST)