Sudan backs ceasefire, but rules out cessation of hostilities

September 12, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s defence minister, Abdel Rahim Hussein, has ruled out any cessation of hostilities with rebel groups active in the country, underlining that only a ceasefire agreement can end war in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur.

In statements at the military academy in Khartoum, Hussein repeated the traditional position of the government on the confidence building measures before to begin negotiations with the rebel groups members of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF).

The government will only accept to negotiate a ceasefire as part of security arrangements in the peace talks he said , stressing “we will not allow anyone to keep guns once again,” Ashooroq TV reported on Friday.

The minister was alluding to the troops of the SPLM in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, which during the transitional period kept its arms and remained under the command of the then former rebel group in accordance with the comprehensive peace agreement of 2005.

The head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki told reporters Wednesday after meeting with president Omer al-Bashir that the latter welcomed an agreement on the national dialogue signed by the Paris declaration forces and two representatives of the national dialogue high committee.

The agreement speaks about the need to stop war and to reach a cessation of hostilities, stressing that “addressing the humanitarian situation shall be an absolute priority in confidence building measures”.

(ST)