Qatari official to meet leaders of Sudanese armed groups in Paris
January 8, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The Qatari Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud next Monday will meet WITH the leaders of two Sudanese armed groups to discuss ways to bring peace in Darfur and facilitate the ongoing efforts to end war in Sudan.
The meeting intervenes as the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) led by the former South African President Thabo Mbeki seeks to hold informed discussions between the Sudanese government and JEM and SLM-MM in Addis Ababa in a bid to revive the stalled talks between the two parties.
Ibrahim told Sudan Tribune on Friday that Al Mahmoud will come to meet them in Paris, stressing “that the initiative came from our side”.
“The purpose of the meeting is to create a better understanding of the positions of each other and explore the possibilities of working together to bring about real peace in Darfur and the Sudan as well as future bilateral relations between Sudan and Qatar,” he further said.
The holdout rebel groups reject the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) endorsed in July 2011 and demand to open its seven chapters for negotiations. But the Sudanese government refuse their claim and say they have to sign it, discuss the security arrangements and join the national dialogue process where they can expose their plights.
Al-Mahmoud who is the chairman of the DDRD international Implementation Follow-up Commission (IFC) played an important role to facilitate the two-year peace process in Doha together with the chief mediator Djibiril Bassolé.
The SLM-MM confirmed in a statement issued on Friday its participation in the meeting saying it comes “in response to appeals by AUHIPon the Qatari role.
“As long as the ultimate goal of the Movement is the search for a comprehensive solution to the crisis at all costs, we are going to meet the Qatari delegation and we will listen to it and explain the reasons for our strict rejection of the Doha document.”
The historical armed groups in Darfur say they reject the DDPD and demand to hold negotiations on the compensations, the security of civilians and internally displaced people, their resettlement; and wealth and power sharing.
(ST)