IDPs camps in Darfur are “a burden of war”: PCP leader
September 23, 20017 (KHARTOUM) – The Popular Congress Party Secretary General, Ali al-Haj Saturday refused to comment on the recent attacks against the residents of Kalma camp, saying it is a problem caused by the war in Darfur and called on focus on a solution for the 14-year conflict.
Three people according to the UNAMID and six as stated by the IDPs were killed in South Darfur largest camp of Kalma on Thursday when the security forces opened fire on the protests against the visit of President Omer al-Bashir to the area.
The opposition parties and armed groups condemned the violence on the peaceful protesters but the government accused the Sudan Liberation Movement – Abdel Wahid al-Nur of firing on the security forces tasked with the protection of the site of the president’s meeting.
However, al-Haj who is from Darfur region stressed that the IDPs camps in western Sudan are the most difficult of the problems prompted by the armed conflict, stressing that the war should be stopped and the conflict resolved first.
“The refugee camps are a burden of war and it is the most difficult problem (in Darfur),” al-Haj in a speech delivered in Sennar, 300 kilometres southeast of Khartoum, according to a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Saturday evening.
Al-Haj further said that the PCP leadership have no position on the issue of the numerous IDPs camps pointing that their decision will be after the end of war and achievement of peace, saying that “their opinion will now be truncated before peace is achieved”.
He stressed now they “must work for peace and then deal with the issue of the camps”.
Al-Haj recently launched an initiative for peace in Sudan and met with President al-Bashir to explain his proposal. He also stated that their plan for peace is based on the outcome of the national dialogue process
He recently said they didn’t propose a new initiative but conducting a dialogue with the holdout opposition forces on the national dialogue document. In that sense, they want to implement freedoms, end the war and improving the living conditions.
The successor of Hassan al-Turabi who returned to the country after sixteen years of exile, disclosed they are seeking to convince the ruling National Congress Party to reunite the forces of the Islamic Movement in Sudan before the 2020 elections.
The PCP was established in 1999 after a rift in the National Congress Party between its founder Hassan al-Turabi and President Omar al-Bashir.
(ST)