Sudanese opposition in discussions over regime change with SRF rebels

December 2, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The opposition coalition known as the National Consensus Forces (NCF) is in contact with the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) on a new plan to bring down the regime led by the National Congress Party (NCP), one of its officials said today.

The NCF spokesperson Kamal Omer said that the main objective during the coming phase is to oust the regime and bring about freedom and democracy in the country.

Omer spoke in this context of talks with the SRF, which is an umbrella of rebel groups fighting the Sudanese army in Darfur, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile.

However he offered no details on the nature of NCF contacts with the SRF or the plan they envision to bring about the regime downfall.

Last month, the leaders of NCF decided to set up mechanisms for coordinating with the SRF to topple the regime.

The unusual declaration was defended by NCF chairman Farouq Abu Issa who said that they recognize that the SRF is comprised of Sudanese citizens who were forced to bear arms and leave the country by the mindless, exclusionary, and racist policies of the NCP.

Abu Issa asserted that no power on earth could stop the NCF from engaging in dialogue with the SRF and accused the NCP of pushing the SRF to bear arms, saying that the NCP and some SRF factions were once partners in governance.

He pointed that the coordination between NCF and SRF aims to save the country from the corrupt policies of the NCP, describing it as humanitarian and moral duty for the sake of the country.

The opposition leader added that the objective of their cooperation with the SRF is to achieve democracy and social justice and establish a new Sudan that doesn’t differentiate between the centre and the peripheries.

The announcement drew strong condemnation from the NCP which called it a “dangerous” development that could be subject to unspecified measures.

(ST)