Sudan’s FM arrives in Addis Ababa to discuss national dialogue
October 23, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour has arrived in Addis Ababa on Friday to brief Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and the African Union (AU) officials on the recent developments of the national dialogue.
“Ghandour will also meet with the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to brief her on the recent developments in Sudan and the national dialogue,” added the source.
According to the same diplomatic source, Ghandour will meet late on Friday with the AU High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) chief Thabo Mbeki to discuss his proposal for holding a pre-dialogue meeting with the holdout opposition.
Sudanese government has recently accepted to sit with the holdout opposition in a pre-dialogue meeting but insists that the meeting will be confined to the armed groups.
On Tuesday, the Sudanese government confirmed the receipt of an invitation from the AUHIP to resume talks with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) on 2 November in Addis Ababa to end the four-year armed conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The two parties are expected to discuss a cessation of hostilities agreement and the humanitarian access to civilians in the rebel controlled areas .
The meeting between the two warring parties in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states comes one year after the last round of talks in November 2014. At the time, the two sides failed to agree on a comprehensive cessation of hostilities including Darfur region and ways to link the process of the Two Areas with the national dialogue.
The last year round of talks took place after a decision by the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) to establish two tacks of talks, one for the Two Areas and the second for Darfur region within one process mediated by the AUHIP aiming to pave the way for a comprehensive solution in Sudan.
The Sudanese army and its allied militia have been fighting SPLM-N rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states since 2011 and the armed movements in Darfur since 2003.
(ST)