SPLM-N’s Arman calls to hold Khartoum accountable of peace talks suspension
June 2, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North( SPLM-N) secretary general and chief negotiator Yasir Arman called on the African and international communities to hold Khartoum government accountable for suspending peace talks.
However, following the recapture of Abu Kershola, a South Kordofan town, by the Sudanese army from the SPLM-N and its allied rebel groups of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) on 27 May, president Omer Al-Bashir announced the suspension of talks with the SPLM-N, adding no more talks with the armed groups.
“We would like to draw to the attention of the African Union and the international community that it is not the first time for General Bashir to refuse negotiations”, Arman said adding that Bashir had previously cancelled a framework agreement the two parties had signed on 28 June 2011.
He pointed out that this refusal of negotiation “resulted in prolonging the war and punishing the civilian populations and denying humanitarian access for two years”.
Negotiating teams from the two sides met last April but the parties disagreed on the agenda of the talks as Khartoum refuses to negotiate under the 28 June framework agreement which is supported by the African Union and the UN Security Council.
Arman in his statement reiterated the SPLM-N commitment to the framework deal as basis of negotiations, emphasising that it is “catering for an inclusive national constitutional process”. He also renewed the offer they made several months ago to sign a cessation of hostilities and demanded Khartoum to allow humanitarian access to the rebel held areas in Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
In the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, sources close to the file of negotiations with the SPLM-N disclosed that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) is divided over the resumption of talks with the rebel group.
The hardliners, the sources said, prefer the language of weapons with the SPLM-N while others in the ruling NCP say that military operations do not prevent the continuation of discussions with the rebel group in Addis Ababa.
The sources underlined that the negotiating team and the NCP leadership are discussing ways to find the middle ground between the halt of talks announced by president Bashir and the need to cooperate with the international and regional efforts to settle the conflict.
President Bashir, according to the sources , had met with Sudanese government top negotiator Ibrahim Gandoor after the capture of Abu Kershola by the rebels on 27 April, and discussed at length with him the different points that will be negotiated with the SPLM-N when talks resume in the first week of June.
Observers believe that Khartoum may seek to adjourn the talks in order to prepare the street to the resumption of peace talks with the rebels after the abrupt announcement Bashir made last month.
International community considers that settling the conflict between the Sudanese government and SPLM-N is part of its efforts to end tensions between Khartoum and Juba, and to build the necessary trust between the two sides to resolve the outstanding issues particularly Abyei and border demarcation.
(ST)