Sudan says SPLM-N must accept U.S. proposal without conditions

March 13, 2107 (KHARTOUM) – Spokesperson of the Sudanese government negotiating delegation Hussein Hamdi Monday said the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement /North (SPLM-N) should accept the U.S. humanitarian proposal without conditions.

On Sunday, a senior SPLM-N official told Sudan Tribune the Movement demands that some “additions and improvements” be made to the U. S. proposal before it could sign it.

The semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) on Monday quoted Hamdi as saying “the SPLM-N must accept the American proposal without conditions”, stressing they reject any preconditions to resume negotiations.

“We wouldn’t accept any conditions from the Movement to resume the talks or regarding the proposal itself,” he said.

He pointed that the government acceptance of the U.S. proposal is a “firm stance”, saying they are ready to resume talks whenever the SPLM-N accepts the proposal.

Hamdi reiterated his government position regarding the delivery of the humanitarian assistance to the needy population in the conflict areas.

The Sudanese army has been fighting the SPLM-N in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, also known as the Two Areas since 2011.

Talks between the two sides for a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access are stalled since last August. The SPLM-N demands to deliver 20% of the humanitarian assistance through a humanitarian corridor from Asosa, an Ethiopian border town.

But the government rejects the idea saying it is a breach of the state sovereignty and a manoeuvre from the rebels to bring arms and ammunition to their locked rebel-held areas in the Two Areas.

The SPLM-N last November declined an American proposal to transport humanitarian medical assistance directly to the civilians in the rebel-held areas in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

(ST)