SPLM-N denies talks with Sudan’s ruling party in Ethiopia
5 June, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The secretary-general of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N), Yasir Arman, said on Tuesday that the meetings his group has been conducting in Addis Ababa are exclusively focused on the humanitarian situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Their arrival gave rise to speculations over direct talks with Khartoum negotiators but the Sudanese ministry of foreign affairs quickly dismissed such plans, stating that the SPLM-N presence has nothing to do with the talks.
Arman told the London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat that they had arrived in Addis Ababa at the invitation of the AUHIP with which they held a meeting on Sunday’s evening.
According to Arman, their talks in Addis Ababa had revolved around the humanitarian situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states as well as the UN Security Council’s (UNSC) resolution number 2046 which instructed the rebels and Khartoum to “cooperate” in order to reach a settlement to the conflict.
Arman revealed that their delegation, which also included the SPLM-N’s humanitarian secretariat officials inclduing Nairon Philip, Ahmad Saeed, and Zaid Issa held a meeting in Addis Ababa with the United States (US) special envoy for Sudan, Princeton Lyman, and UN envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Haile Menkerios.
He also said that they held meetings with people from the office of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
But the SPLM-N official strongly denied that they came to hold talks with Sudanese negotiators, alleging that it was them who sought to talk with his group.
“Our delegation absolutely did not come to negotiate with the [ruling] National Congress [Party]. This is not part of our agendas. In fact it was the NCP that sought this and I don’t want to go into details” he said.
The rebels and Khartoum did not hold direct talks since Sudanese president Omer Al-Bashir scrapped a deal the two sides signed in Addis Ababa in June last year, shortly after the eruption of the conflict in South Kordofan and before it spread to Blue Nile in September.
The deal was supposed to pave the way for new arrangements concerning SPLM-N fighters and recognition of the rebels as a legal political party.
Since then, the SPLM-N forged an alliance known as the Sudanese Revolutionary Forces (SRF) with three rebel groups from Darfur. The allied rebels vow joint military operations to topple the government.
Arman stressed that their alliance with SRF factions is solid and that they would only accept comprehensive talks.
“We are people of the same cause, we operate jointly and we all agree on what achieves our collective interest and that of Sudan in general.”
He pointed out that their main concern is the “humanitarian crisis” created in South Kordofan and Blue Nile by what he described as Khartoum’s policies of systematic starvation and continuous aerial bombardment of the civilian population in the two states.
The SPLM-N has been lobbying for months to create more pressure on the Sudanese government to allow humanitarian assistance in rebel-controlled areas in the two states.
On the other hand, Sudanese officials continue to reject involvement of international aid groups in the two states, citing security concerns.
Khartoum also says the rebels must agree to a full cessation of hostilities in order to allow humanitarian activities.
(ST)