Conflicting reports about participation of eastern Sudan group in opposition meeting
March 5, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Eastern Sudan opposition factions released conflicting statements over their participation in a meeting of the opposition Sudan Call alliance which would be convened in Paris next week.
Sudan Call factions are set to meet in Paris on 13 March to discuss a joint position on the African Union-mediated roadmap agreement they reached with the government in 2016. The meeting would gather the National Umma Party, the two factions of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), opposition parties and civil society groups member of the alliance.
The two factions of the United Popular Front for Liberation and Justice (UPFLJ) are part the SRF Agar and the SRF Minnawi.
In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Monday morning, the UPFLJ led Zeinab Kabashi said they would not take part in the meeting and blamed the organisers of asking them to participate under the banner of their SRF’s faction.
Khabashi said eastern Sudan should be represented by its own entities in a separate bloc and not affiliated with another group, adding they had raised this issue in the past and sought to change it.
The UPFLJ-Kabashi was part of the SRF Agar but distanced itself from the SPLM-N led by Malik Agar and supported the SPLM-N faction of Abdel Aziz al Hilu.
Al-Hilu faction would not take part in the Sudan Call meeting despite previous statements reiterating its commitment to the opposition alliance.
In a separate statement, the UPFLJ led by Alamin Daoud Mahmoud confirmed their participation in Paris meeting on 13-16 March and pledged to defend all the issues and concerns of eastern Sudan people at this meeting.
“The representation in the Sudan Call (meetings) is done by blocs. Except for the National Umma Party, (which is considered as one bloc) all the other components include a number of allied parties,” Mahmoud asserted.
Last January, the opposition groups declined an invitation by the African Union mediation to discuss the fate of the Roadmap agreement and how to develop it.
Also, the African Union Peace and Security Council asked the mediation team to meet Darfur armed groups and to resume peace talks in order to reach a lasting solution for the western Sudan conflict.
(ST)