Mini preparatory meeting to be held after talks with Sudan’s rebels : AU

October 31, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The African Union (AU) said a mini-meeting to prepare for the national dialogue between the Sudanese government and the opposition forces will be preceded by separate security talks on Darfur and the Two Areas scheduled for mid-November.

Earlier last month, it was announced that Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) will meet in Addis Ababa in early November to resume discussions on a cessation of hostilities agreement in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations announced Wednesday that the African Union mediated meeting between the Sudanese government, SPLM-N and Darfur rebel groups will start respectively on 16 to 17 and 18 to 19 November.

The head of the AU Liaison Office in Sudan, Mahmoud Kane, told the pro-government Sudan Media Center (SMC) Saturday that talks on Darfur and the Two Areas will be held two or three days ahead of the dialogue preparatory meeting.

He pointed out that the mini-pre-dialogue meeting will be held with the participation of the rebel groups of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) and the National Umma Party (NUP), disclosing the Sudanese government agreed to take part in the meeting.

Khartoum had previously refused to participate in a comprehensive preparatory meeting including the political opposition and civil society groups. Only it reiterated its readiness to meet the rebels to discuss the conditions and guarantees related to their participation in the internal process.

However, the Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir last week instructed the dialogue body known to meet with the signatories of Addis Ababa agreement including the SRF and the NUP.

The SRF and the NUP from one side and 7+7 committee from the other side on 5 September 2014 signed an agreement on identical term with the AU High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) “on the national dialogue and constitutional process”.

Kane added that the government and Darfur groups will hold talks on the cessation of hostilities while negotiations on the Two Areas will be held separately; pointing that Darfur problem differs from the issues of the Two Areas.

He said the AU will extend the invitations for the meetings following the completion of consultations with all parties.

The Sudanese government since November 2014 objected the participation of civil society groups and showed scepticism towards the coalition of the opposition National Consensus Forces.

Sudan’s presidential assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid had earlier stressed the government readiness to convene talks on the Two Areas, pointing the two sides have agreed on 90% of the items in the framework agreement proposed by the AUHIP.

He also underscored that the 7+7 committee is ready to meet the rebel groups abroad in order to make the necessary arrangement for the participation in the internal dialogue.

“The next meeting with the [armed] movements would be based on what had been agreed upon previously [in the Addis Ababa agreement],” he added.

Hamid added the two sides agreed on several issues including that the comprehensive political solution is the best option to resolve Sudan’s problem, cessation of hostilities in order to create climate conducive for dialogue, allowing political freedoms and releasing political prisoners.

The presidential aide stressed that the 7+7 committee wouldn’t mind to added new items to the roadmap approved by the internal dialogue parties, renewing readiness to continue contacts with the holdout opposition provided that the dialogue must be held inside Sudan.

(ST)