Khartoum says SPLM-N presence in Addis unrelated to talks with South Sudan
June 4, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government and its ruling National Congress Party (NCP) raced on Monday to disassociate their ongoing negotiations with South Sudan in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa from the unexpected arrival of two leaders of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N)
SPLM-N’s Chairman Malik Aggar secretary-general Yasir Arman arrived in Addis Ababa on Sunday and held a meeting with the African Union’s (AU) Mediation team which is facilitating talks between Sudan and South Sudan.
The two rebel leaders refrained from giving statements to the media and only said that they were invited by the AU to discuss their group’s position on the roadmap that the AU produced last month to contain tension between the two neighbors and return them to negotiations.
Informed sources however told Sudan Tribune that the meeting tackled mainly the position of the rebel group which demands a comprehensive process and the access of international aid groups to their controlled areas in Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile states.
The official spokesman of Sudan’s foreign ministry, Al-Obaid Adam Marawih, told reporters in Khartoum that AU invited Arman and Aggar to discuss portions related to South Kordofan and Blue Nile in the UN Security Council’s resolution that ordered Khartoum and the rebel group it has been fighting since last year to “cooperate” for a peaceful solution to the conflict in the two states.
Khartoum has been refusing to negotiate with the SPLM-N since president Al-Bashir disavowed an agreement signed by his aides with the rebels in Addis Ababa last year.
The SPLM-N which later forged an alliance with rebel groups from the western region of Darfur with the aim of “regime change” has been insisting on comprehensive talks and allowing humanitarian assistance in South Kordofan and Blue Nile
Marawih said that the presence of Aggar and Arman does not concern Khartoum’s negotiators.
Similarly, the NCP’s official spokesman Badr Al-Din Ahmad Ibrahim asserted that the talks in Addis Ababa were being held between two states and there is no room for a third party.
He said that if the SPLM-N wants to conduct any dialogue with the government it must do so away from South Sudan.
The NCP official added that the SPLM-N must accept to surrender its arms, at which point Khartoum can negotiate with them and reach an agreement as it did with other rebel groups in the past.
Khartoum accuses South Sudan of supporting the rebels who once fought as part of its army but Juba denies the charge.
The Sudanese government is trying through the negotiations to secure a deal with Juba on ceasing its alleged support to the rebels.
(ST)