Sudanese government hands over negotiating position to African mediation
March 19, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese government delegation to the Strategic Consultations Meeting with the rebel movements Saturday said it handed over its negotiation position to the chief of the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki.
The head of the government team for the track on the conflict in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid said in press statements Saturday that his delegation handed over its position to the AUHIP.
He added that he briefed the AUHIP on the government strategic vision, saying that the national issues must be discussed inside Sudan.
“There is no way to discuss those issues on the bilateral level,” he said.
He pointed that the rebel movements and the National Umma Party (NUP) could discuss the outcome of the dialogue conference with the dialogue mechanism known as 7+7, saying they could work together until the general assembly approves the recommendations and turns them into a national document.
Hamid further said that the next constitution would be drafted by a committee from the political forces according to the national document.
The Strategic Consultative Meeting is conceived by the mediation to replace a national dialogue preparatory meeting the government had rejected.
The purpose of the pre-dialogue meeting was to gather the armed and political holdout groups and the government to discuss confidence building measures paving the way for their participation in the internal political process.
The pre-dialogue meeting was supposed to intervene after the signing of a cessation of hostilities agreement within the framework of declaration of principles for a peaceful settlement.
(ST)