Talks on Sudan’s Two Areas to resume on 12 November: SPLM-N
October 27, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPM-N) has said it received an invitation from the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) to resume talks with the Sudanese government in Addis Ababa on 12 November.
The process aims to reach a cessation of hostilities agreements in Blue Nile, South Kordofan states and Darfur region , before to engage in a national dialogue process including all the political parties and rebel groups inside the country.
However, the Sudanese government on 5 October announced that talks with the SPLM-N on the Two Areas have been postponed until after 25 October, stating engagement of some members of its negotiating team in preparations for the ruling party’s convention besides absence of several others who were performing Hajj.
The SPLM-N spokesperson, Mubarak Ardol in a statement released on Monday disclosed that the AUHIP invited them to meet the Sudanese government on 12 November, adding they have embarked on wide consultations with their allies and forces of change in the political parties and civil societies.
Ardol, further accused the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of hindering the work of the AUHIP in order to buy time to re-nominate Bashir for another presidential term and hold the general election.
The NCP concluded its general convention on Saturday with the endorsement of Bashir’s nomination for the presidential election after he won 94.21% of the votes.
Ardol pointed out that the Sudanese army also prepares to launch a wide military campaign in the summer, stressing that it would not gain better results than the multiple failures of the past years.
“The only success it has achieved was the extermination and displacement of civilians and these are crimes that would never become obsolete”, he said.
On Saturday, the Sudanese government said that the head of the AUHIP, Thabo Mbeki, will arrive in the country on the fourth of November to discuss with president Omer Hassan al-Bashir the national dialogue process and resumption of talks on the Two Areas and Darfur.
In early September, the rebel alliance of the Sudan Revolutionary Forces (SRF) and the dialogue committee known as 7+7 signed separate agreements with the AUHIP in Addis Ababa on the national dialogue and constitutional process providing that a comprehensive political agreement is the ideal option to end war and achieve democratic reforms.
The border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile state have been the scene of a violent conflict since 2011 when fighting broke out between the SPLM-N and Sudanese army (SAF).
(ST)