France denies harbouring Darfur rebel leader
March 22, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Ali Sadiq, said French officials denied that a Darfur rebel leader has a residence permit in their country.
Sadiq was speaking to the press following a meeting between the foreign minister Ali Karti with a visiting delegation from the French foreign ministry
He told reporters that the meeting discussed, among others, the presence in France of Abdel Wahid al-Nur, the leader of a Sudan Liberation Movement faction.
The French delegation said that Nur ” has not a residence permit, but he visits France frequently” Sadiq said
Al-Nur, was in France during several years in the past but since the end of 2010 he left Paris.
The rebel leader refuses to negotiate with the Sudanese government and demands to fulfil a number of conditions related to the security of the IDPs, and land ownership before to engage in talks with Khartoum.
The Sudanese government accuses Kampala of harbouring and supporting rebel groups, but different reports say the rebel leaders are no longer present in the Ugandan territory.
The leaders of the rebel umbrella Sudanese Revolutionary Front signed in August 2014 a political agreement in Paris with the leader of the opposition National Umma Party Sadiq al-Mahdi but the French authorities denied any involvement in the meeting.
Recently, Germany hosted a meeting of political and armed opposition leader to discuss ways to participate in a preparatory meeting on the national dialogue.
(ST)