Sudan summons French ambassador over hosting of opposition meetings: sources
May 9, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s Foreign Ministry Sunday summoned the French ambassador to Khartoum Bruno Aubert to protest against his country’s hosting of a recent opposition meeting in Paris, said diplomatic sources.
Diplomatic sources in Khartoum disclosed that the foreign ministry told Aubert that it considers Paris hosting of opposition leaders “a hostile act and an incitement to continue the war and undermine the constitutional order”.
According to the sources, the foreign ministry also told the French envoy that the participation of French officials in the opposition meeting in Paris is considered a direct support to the armed movements.
According to the leaks, the foreign ministry informed Aubert of Sudanese government efforts to achieve peace in the country, saying the latter signed the Roadmap Agreement proposed by the African mediation while the armed group rejected the plan.
The Sudanese diplomat who requested anonymity said the French Ambassador for his part apologized for hosting the opposition meeting in Paris without notifying the Sudanese government and renewed his country’s support for peace in Sudan.
He also expressed his country’s desire to promote the relationship with Khartoum.
Aubert further pointed that his country participated in the meeting among other nations in order to pressure the rebel movements to sign the roadmap agreement, denying that his government has harboured and supported the rebels during their presence in Paris.
Following the Paris meeting, Sudan Call leaders acknowledged that representatives of the Sudan Troika including the United States, United Kingdom and Norway besides the European Union have exerted huge pressures on them to sign the roadmap however they stood their ground.
Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour last November also protested to Aubert against France’s harbouring for the rebel groups “which commits acts of killing, intimidation and terror against the Sudanese people”.
In statements published on Tuesday in Khartoum , the foreign minister said the French government every time hosts a meeting of the opposition leaders used to repeat it seeks to convince them to sign a peace agreement with the government.
President Omer al-Bashir, also recently used to mention in his public speeches the presence of the Sudanese rebels in the French capital Paris.
(ST)