Doha talks with Darfur rebel faction will resume in January , Sudanese official

December 22, 2012 (KHARTOUM)° – Delegations from the government and a splinter rebel faction will hold talks for peace in Darfur next month as the group is still preparing itself , announced a Sudanese minister on Saturday.

Sudanese government and the Justice and Equality Movement – Military Council (JEM-MC) were scheduled to meet in December to discuss a peace deal based on the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur.

The group of military commanders who broke away in September 2012, signed a goodwill and a cessation of hostilities agreements with the Sudanese government in October, after a meeting held in Doha brokered by the acting joint mediator and the Qatari government.

State minister, Amin Hassan Omer, head of Darfur peace follow-up office in statement to the pro-government news service SMC said on Saturday that the talks with JEM-MC have been postponed to January after the end of Christmas and New Year holidays.

He pointed out that the talks are delayed because of the workshops organised to prepare the rebel negotiating team before the talks, praising the role played by the United Nations in this respect.

The government initially was keen to conclude this process before a donors conference planned to take place in January in the Qatari capital.

The head of Darfur Regional Authority, Tijani Al-Sissi returned Saturday to Khartoum after a visit to Brussels where he held talks with European Union’s officials over its participation in the conference.

Last November European Union’s special envoy to Sudan, Rosalind Marsden, warned that Khartoum has to pay first its contribution to Darfur authority for IDPs and refugees programme and to implement Doha document particularly justice and compensation issues.

(ST)