Darfur rebel SLM to attend Sudanese govt’s talk with opposition alliance

CAIRO, Sep 24, 2004 (MENA) — Darfur rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) is to attend the Khartoum government’s talks with a Sudanese opposition alliance in Cairo, Sudanese sources told MENA on Friday.

The talks between the government and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Sudan are due in Cairo on 28 September.

The leader of SLM, Abdel-Wahid Mohamed Ahmad, phoned the deputy chairman of the NDA to tell him of his movement’s participation in the talks.

The NDA, an umbrella of Sudanese opposition parties abroad, decided earlier this month to disband its military wing and return to Sudan.

The move was widely welcomed, as the NDA military arm — based in eastern Sudan and Eritrea — had been engaged in several armed combats with the Sudanese government in eastern Sudan.