Sudanese ruling party denies moving of the talks with Darfur rebels to Ethiopia

KHARTOUM, July 04, 2004 (Sudan Tribune) — The secretary-general of the ruling] National Congress, Ibrahim Ahmad Omar, has denied existence of a move to transfer negotiations between the government and the Darfur rebels groups to Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Some papers yesterday attributed such claims to the chairman of African Union Commission chairman.

In a press statement to the pro governmental Al Anba daily newspaper, Omar said the government was still sticking to the Chadian mediation with Ndjamena as the headquarters for these negotiations. He pointed out that time was not yet ripe for moving the talks to Addis Ababa.

Chad yesterday welcomed the call by African Union to move political negotiations between the Sudanese government and the armed rebels groups in Darfur to Addis Ababa.

The Chadian mediator Ahmat Alami told Al-Ray al-Amm daily newspaper that there was difference between Chad and the AU.

Meanwhile, the military spokesman for the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Darfur said it will not take part in the Addis Ababa political negotiations set for 15 July. Speaking on telephone from Libreville, the official spokesman of JEM, Abdallah Abd-al-Karim, said “We will not go to Addis Ababa on July 15 as we not involved in choosing the date or the place for the political negotiations.”