Sudan’s gov’t and SPLM-N agree to hold new informal meetings soon
December 18, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) wrapped up a three-day informal meeting and agreed to resume discussions soon.
In a bid to bridges the gaps, the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) organized a three-day round of informal talks between the two sides from 16 to 18 December where the two sides debated on how to overcome their differences.
In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, the spokesperson of the SPLM-N negotiating team Mubarak Ardol said the two sides were not able to reach an agreement on the main outstanding issues.
“However they laid out their positions on those issues openly and seriously and agreed to hold a second informal meeting at the earliest time for further deep discussions and allow each side to consult with its allies in order to achieve comprehensive peace,” he said
According to the statement, SPLM-N chief negotiator Yasir Arman said in statements following the meetings that this round of talks was characterized by openness and transparency, pointing to the issues and the manner by which the talks were conducted.
He underlined the need to achieve several goals including the comprehensive peace, participation of all political and armed groups in the dialogue and provision of food, peace and freedoms.
The statement further said the talks were marked by the discussion of the national issues besides issues pertaining to the Two Areas, adding the two sides discussed the comprehensive peace and the participation of all parties in the dialogue besides the security and political arrangements in the Two Areas.
Ardol noted the informal round of talks underscored the importance to end the war in the Two Areas and Darfur simultaneously and to allow the participation of all parties in the dialogue in order to achieve national consensus besides addressing the issues pertaining to the Two Areas and arriving at a national agenda to unify the Sudanese people.
The government delegation didn’t yet issue any statement about the three-day meeting, but sources close to the meeting said the presidential assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud repeated the same positions announced last November.
The African Union mediators propose to government and rebel groups to sign a cessation of hostilities agreement and to reach a deal over the humanitarian access to the needy in the war zones.
The two agreement are part of confidence building measures, the AUHIP intend to implement paving the way for the participation of the rebel groups and holdout opposition groups in the national dialogue conference.
The Sudanese army has been fighting SPLM-N rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011.
(ST)