Sudan forecasts deal with exiled northern opposition groups
KHARTOUM, Sept 1 (AFP) — Sudan’s government on Wednesday said a deal was close with exiled northern opposition groups that will herald their return soon to the country and resumption of political activities.
“There will be an agreement on all issues,” Federal Government Minister Nafie Ali Nafie told a news conference in the Sudanese capital after returning from negotiations in Egypt with the opposition groups.
Nafie headed the government delegation to talks with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), an umbrella grouping of northern and southern opposition groups.
He added that he expected NDA members to return to resume political activies after a deal on all outstanding issues. “The return will be automatic,” said Nafie.
He and the delegation held six-days of closed-door discussions in Cairo as part of Khartoum’s effort to negotiate peace with all political opponents in the south, north and west of Sudan, Africa’s largest country.
The negotiations ended with an agreement on a 13-point agenda, which will form the basis for dialogue between the two parties when the talks resume in late September, and includes constitutional issues, general elections and economic policy.
The two sides also agreed to set up four committees to review constitutional, political, economic and financial issues before they are tabled for discussions in the main committee when the parties convene.
Nafie said he hoped there would be calm on Sudan’s eastern border, where there have been clashes betweeen Sudanese government forces and fighters of groups represented in the NDA such as the Beja Congress that also participated in the Cairo negotiations.
Sudan has consistently accused neighbouring Eritrea of supporting armed opposition groups and helping them destabilize its eastern border region, a charge Eritrea, which does not have diplomatic relations with Sudan, rejects.
“There are many signals coming from Eritrea suggesting that it wants to normalize relations with Sudan,” Nafie said, adding that Eritrea was also sending signals about its desire to see the NDA reach an agreement with Khartoum.
Established in Eritrea in 1995, the NDA and its armed groups such as the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, Sudan Alliance Forces and the Beja Congress, have launched a series of attacks against Sudan from bases on Eritrean soil and had vowed to topple the government of President Omar el-Bashir.