Sudanese government and rebel groups to meet Wednesday: AU
November 16, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The African Union (AU) said that Khartoum and the rebel movements have officially approved to participate in talks on security arrangements in the states of Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur region in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.
He said that Khartoum informed the AU that its negotiating team for the Darfur issue would be headed by the Darfur peace implementation follow-up office state minister, Amin Hassan Omer, while the presidential aide Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid will lead the delegation for the talks on the Two Areas.
Kane also pointed that all Darfur movements and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-M) have named their negotiating teams except the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW) led by Abdel-Wahid al-Nur.
The SLM-AW which refuses to participate in any negotiations with the government since Abuja peace process, says Khartoum provide security to civilians by disarming its militias and expel new comers from the land of IDPs before to negotiate a peace agreement of the root cause of the conflict.
In the same context, the secretary general of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) and member of the dialogue body known as 7+7 Kamal Omer said the presidential aide Ibrahim Mahmoud will travel to Addis Ababa on Tuesday, saying he is expected to discuss with the rebel leaders Thursday the necessary guarantees for their participation in the ongoing dialogue conference in Khartoum.
Omer told Sudan Tribune that he will also leave for Addis Ababa to convince Darfur rebels to participate in the dialogue conference, saying the PCP would seek to capitalize on its good ties with Darfur movements.
He stressed that the chairman of the Reform Now Movement (RNM) Ghazi al-Attabani won’t participate in the dialogue preparatory meeting because he is no longer member of the 7+7 mechanism following his party’s withdrawal from the dialogue process.
For his part, the government spokesperson Ahmed Bilal Osman said the agenda of the talks with the SPLM-N on the Two Areas would revolve around the cessation of hostilities while negotiations on Darfur will based upon the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).
He pointed that a dialogue preparatory meeting including the government, rebel umbrella Sudan Revolutionary Forces (SRF) and the National Umma Party (NUP) would be held subsequently if the government and the rebels reached an agreement on the cessation of hostilities.
Osman said the mini preparatory meeting will be based upon the roadmap approved by the 7+7 committee and the Addis Ababa agreement.
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”.
Last October, the AU announced that a mini-pre-dialogue meeting will be held with the participation of the SRF and the NUP following the security talks on the Two Areas and Darfur , 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 October instructed the 7+7 committee to meet with the signatories of Addis Ababa agreement.
REBEL LEADERS TO JOIN DIALOGUE CONFERENCE
Meanwhile, the 7+7 committee has disclosed that some rebel leaders will join the dialogue conference during the coming few days.
7+7 committee member from the opposition side Omran Yahia Omran told reporters Monday that the dialogue conference would reveal much of its outcome next week, saying the committee is delighted that some rebel groups are closely following the conference and seeking to participate in it.
“The ongoing conference is a Sudanese/Sudanese dialogue and it doesn’t need international monitoring or guardianship of any party,” he said.
He added the national constitutional dialogue which was demanded by the opposition “Sudan Call” forces in its recent meeting in Paris could be held within the dialogue conference in Khartoum.
Omran said the dialogue conference is going on as planned, pointing the 7+7 committee held three meetings since October 10th to assess the dialogue process and challenges facing it.
He said the 7+7 committee has urged that holdout opposition to participate in the dialogue conference.
MEETING THE EU
In another context, information minister Ahmed Bilal Osman has briefed the European Union (EU) ambassador to Khartoum, Thomas Ulicny, on the dialogue process and the upcoming talks with the rebel movements in Addis Ababa.
Ulicny said in press statement following the meeting that the EU would support the talks between the government and the rebel groups.
He expressed appreciation for Sudan’s stance towards the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.
(ST)