Washington renews call to keep Sudan’s dialogue process open
October 24, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – U.S. envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Donald Booth, on Monday has discussed with the Secretary General of the national dialogue Hashim Ali Salim ways to implement the dialogue outcome.
The opposition groups boycotted the process because the government didn’t agree on humanitarian truce with the armed groups and due to its refusal to implement a number of confidence building measures.
Also, Washington had earlier on demanded that the Sudanese government to consider the internal process as a first step for a broader process for peace and democratic reforms that will encompasses all the political and armed groups in the country.
Following his meeting with Salim on Monday, U.S. envoy told reporters that the national document should remain open in order to allow the holdout opposition to join the dialogue, renewing call for the government and the rebel movements to reach an agreement on humanitarian access for the affected in the war zones.
On Saturday, Booth said Washington has asked the chief African mediator Thabo Mbeki to press the rebel groups and holdout opposition to join the national dialogue.
For his part, Salim told Booth that any opposition group who seek to join the dialogue should sign the national document, saying he briefed the U.S. envoy on the next moves including formation of the government of national concord and its tasks.
Salim pointed that the U.S. envoy informed him that Washington would exert efforts to make the holdout opposition join the national document, saying the general secretariat is currently preparing its final report and would submit it to the dialogue coordination committee known as 7+7.
On Sunday, the 7+7 committee said it agreed to accelerate the constitutional reforms paving the way for the formation of a transitional government and the implementation of the dialogue resolutions.
(ST).