Uganda’s Museveni discusses peace with Sudanese armed groups

October 22, 206 (KHARTOUM) – Minni Minnawi, the leader of a Sudan Liberation Movement faction (SLM-MM) Saturday disclosed that he and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Gibril Ibrahim met this week with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

The meeting held at the official residence of the President of Uganda in Central Uganda town of Entebbe last Wednesday 19, was a continuation of previous meetings with President Museveni and his aides in support of the African Union mediation led by President Thabo Mbeki to achieve peace and democratic change in Sudan.

In statements to Sudan Tribune, Minnawi said that Museveni briefed them about the National Dialogue conference held in Khartoum on 10 October and handed a copy of its recommendations.

“We told him that we are not concerned by this conference because we were not part of it and we do not acknowledge its resolutions,” he said.

“We asked him to play a bigger role to bridging the gaps between the negotiating parties, and he positively responded and accepted our demand,” Minnawi added.

The rebel leader said they handed over to President Museveni a position paper on the peace process that details their whole vision from the humanitarian cessation of hostilities to the inclusive constitutional dialogue conference.

Between the truce and the national dialogue “there are too many the procedural and substantive things including the confidence building measures, the preparatory meeting and the negotiations on the specificities of the marginalized and war affected areas,” he stressed.

The government, the armed groups in the Two Areas and Darfur participating in a double process to achieve peace and to prepare the grounds for an inclusive national constitutional dialogue including the opposition parties.

The talks between the government and the armed groups in Darfur have failed to achieve any progress as the parties disagree on the cessation of hostilities and the humanitarian access. The armed groups refuse to disclose the location of their combatants at this phase while Khartoum rejects their participation in the distribution of the humanitarian assistance.

In a parallel effort, Chadian President Idris Deby met recently in Berlin with JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim and Abdel Wahid al-Nur the leader of another faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement.

Following the meeting the two rebel leader announced they would send delegations to Ndjamena in the near future for further discussions on peace in Sudan. They also said that Minnawi agreed to join them.

Deby and Museveni were part of four presidents from the region who attended the closing session of the National Dialogue Conference earlier this month.

On Friday, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement -North (SPLM-N) Friday announced the suspension of negotiations with the Sudanese government over political settlement, and called for an international investigation of the use of chemical weapons in the war affected areas in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

Asked about if there were consulted by the SPLM-N over this suspension, Minnawi said there was no coordination with the SPLM-N over the matter.

“We only read the statement from the media,” he said.

The SPLM-N, JEM and SLM-MM had announced they would only sign simultaneous agreements with the government as they are all members of the Sudan Call alliance.

The three armed groups and the National Umma Party of Sadiq al-Mahdi signed last August a Roadmap Agreement proposed by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) which broker the negotiations.

(ST)