Mahdi must first relinquish Paris Declaration before returning to Sudan: Bashir
September 27, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir strongly attacked the leader of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) for signing a political agreement with rebel groups and said that Sadiq al-Mahdi can return back to Sudan only if he cancels the Paris Declaration.
On 4 September, the Paris Declaration group signed an agreement on the national dialogue and constitutional process with the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). Further, the African mediation called the warring parties in the Two Areas and Darfur to separately negotiate a cessation of hostilities respectively on 12 and 15 October.
In line with these developments, and after Khartoum commitment to create a conducive environment inside the country, it was expected that the Sudanese authorities would allow Mahdi’s return to the country. The release of his daughter Merriam and the leader of the opposition Congress Party were considered as positive steps.
However, in a speech at the convention of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Khartoum state on Saturday, Bashir surprised the public by announcing that Mahdi can only come back to Sudan after having renounced the Paris Declaration, emphasising that Paris Declartion makes him complicit in the rebel project to bring down the regime by the force of arms.
“Sadiq al-Mahdi is welcome at any time, but he should first disowns what he signed in Paris,” Bashir said, adding that Mahdi agreed with SRF to change the regime while the programme of the rebels “is based on the armed action to overthrow the regime”.
The Paris declaration was welcomed inside the country and abroad as it provides that the “end of the war is the right approach to any credible national dialogue and serious constitutional” process and call to ensure freedoms in the country.
The African Union Peace and Security Council in a meeting held on 12 September tasked the AUHIP with cessation of hostilities talks between the warring parties, and exhorted Khartoum to implement the confidence-building measures agreed in the agreement of 4 September which is also signed by the national dialogue committee.
The regional body further urged the Sudanese stakeholders to “refrain from hate speech and from conducting negative media campaigns against each other”.
The Sudanese president went further to say that some want to use the national dialogue to dismantle the regime, adding that his government will not allow rebel groups to exercise any political action or to establish alliance with the opposition forces in Sudan.
He said the SRF rebels have to lay down their arms before to come to Khartoum and engage in political activities.
Bashir called on the rebel groups to participate in the national dialogue and renewed his government commitment of to provide the needed guarantees for the SRF delegates to participate freely in the national process after the end of talks on security arrangements in Addis Ababa.
But he clearly underscored that the separate talks with rebels will be based on the 2005 peace agreement (CPA) for the SPLM-N and the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) for Darfur rebel groups.
The talks on the South Kordofan and Blue Nile “will only consider a single item which is the reintegration and demobilisation of the (rebel) combatants in the Two Areas, as the rest of issues are included in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” he said.
He also reiterated his refusal for the postponement of 2015 elections and expressed his readiness to undertake a Cabinet reshuffle in a way to represent all the political forces participating in the dialogue process.
NISS TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION
Hours after Bashir’s statements against the return of Mahdi to Sudan before the cancellation of Paris Declaration, the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) announced its intention to sue the leader of the opposition NUP Sadiq al-Mahdi for his participation in “activities against the country”.
“Our decision to file a suit against al-Mahdi is taken after extensive legal assessment and based on information and documents relating to his activities since the signing of the Paris Declaration and what followed in encounters,” said the director of the NISS information department is a statement released on Saturday evening.
The security official further described Mahdi’s activities as illegal actions publishable by law and confirmed that that the legal proceedings against him will begin in the coming days.
Since his arrival in Cairo last August, the DUP leader held a series of meetings with the Egyptian officials and foreign diplomats there to explain the Paris Declaration. He travelled to the United Arab Emirates and Addis Ababa where he met with the AUHIP chief.
Al-Mahdi, who was a fervent supporter of the national dialogue, had been arrested for one month from May to June for criticising atrocities and war crimes committed by the government militias in Darfur.
Following his release, he distanced himself from the internal process and called to include rebels in the national dialogue. He further demanded to issue a law protecting political freedoms before to launch the political operation.
(ST)