SPLM-N rebels have to abandon regime change before talks, Sudanese official

December 28, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan presidential aide Nafie Ali Nafie said peace with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan and Blue Nile cannot be achieved unless the rebels focus only on the issues of the Tow Area.

Speaking on Friday at the fourth convention of the United Sudan National Party, a political group defending mainly the interests of the Nuba Mountains area, Nafie said that the SPLM-N has to abandon their agenda of regime change.

“Between us, (the government and SPLM-N) there is a special protocol (on the issue of the Two Area) and the government is ready to complete its implementation to achieve peace. A compromise over it can only be reached on national grounds and not on crippling attempts by insurgents to keep the war waging,” he said.

Nafie further said that the SPLM-N leadership has to stop promoting the ideas of regime change and the establishment of New and secular Sudan, stressing it is a goal the rebels “would never achieve”.

Nafie who signed a framework agreement with the rebels on 28 June 2011 to end South Kordofan conflict, refused recently to defend this deal saying the presidential decision to discard it was a party’s decision and he supports it.

The two sides do not achieve any progress since the resumption of indirect talks brokered by an African Union mediation team , in line with the UN resolution 2046.

The Sudanese government demands that Juba should stop its support to the SPLM-N and disarm its fighters before to engage direct talks on the implementation of a protocol dealing with the conflict in the two areas included in the CPA deal of January 2005.

On the other hand, the SPLM-N demands that Khartoum allows humanitarian access to the areas they control in South Kordofan and Blue Nile before to commence political negotiations. The rebels recently also proposed a cessation of hostilities, and in return demand to authorize the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the civilians in their positions.

The SPLM-N and three rebel groups from Darfur region formed an alliance called the Sudanese Revolutionary Front aiming to topple the regime and to establish a secular state with large autonomy for the different regions.

The SPLM-N demanded to include the issue of Darfur in Addis Ababa process but the mediation declined the request as the agenda of talks in accordance with the UN Security Council decision, concern only Sudan South Sudan outstanding issues and the conflicts in the two regions.

(ST)