Darfur mediator to brief Sudanese officials on Arusha consultations with rebels
August 26, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Darfur joint peace mediator, will brief Khartoum government about a consultations meeting he organised with two Darfur rebel groups in Tanzania, a Sudanese official announced on Monday.
Omer said they are in continued contacts with the Qatari officials who facilitate Darfur peace process to encourage rebel groups to join the Doha forum.
He further emphasised that the “Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) remains the fundamental basis of all peace agreements that safeguard the rights of Darfur people”, adding “it is open to anyone who wants to join the peace process”.
The consultations take place two year after the signing of a peace agreement with the former rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) on 14 July 2011. At the time, JEM proposed to consider the DDPD as basis for additional discussions but Khartoum refused the demand as the group had a separate track in the peace negotiation process.
Since the formation of a coalition with the rebel SPLM-North in November 2011, the holdout rebel groups refuse to engage talks with the government under the basis of the Doha frame text saying they want a holistic process to discuss all the regional conflicts in Sudan and the reestablishment of a democratic regime on secular basis.
Chambas in a speech delivered during the meeting called on the rebels to negotiate a peaceful settlement to Darfur crisis to alleviate the suffering of affected civilians, pointing out that such a deal will pave the way for a comprehensive solution.
The joint mediator and the rebels agreed to meet within two months to resume consultations over ways to organise direct peace negotiations between them and the Sudanese government.
Omer also announced the arrival of the advance delegation of JEM – Bashar in Khartoum, adding that the two parties have now to renegotiate the implementation matrix agreed with the former rebel group as a result of the delay caused by killing of its former leader Moahmed Bashar last May.
JEM-Bashar, a splinter group, and the Sudanese government signed a peace agreement on 6 April 2013 on the DDPD basis.
Following the death of Bashar and his deputy Suleiman Arko Dahia the group reorganised itself and elected its general commander Bakheit Abdallah Abdel-Karim (Dabajo) new chairman of the movement.
(ST)