Sudan welcomes Salva Kiir’s efforts to reconcile SPLM-N factions
October 24, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese government welcomed an initiative by South Sudan President Salva Kiir to bring together the two factions of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by Malik Agar and Abdul Aziz al-Hilu.
A member of the government negotiating delegation, Hussein Karashoom, unveiled to the semi-official Sudanese Media Center (SMC) that the initiative aims to bridge the gaps between the two factions in order to ensure the success of the peace process under the auspices of the African Union mediation led by President Thabo Mbeki, which is expected to resume in November.
“There is a good environment for the resumption of (peace) negotiations on the Two Areas, after the meetings held with the African Union mediation headed by President Thabo Mbeki to break the deadlock in the negotiations,” Karshoom said.
He further expected that Kiir would continue to play an important role to narrow the gaps between the government and SPLM-N during the talks in the future.
Following the signing of the revitalized peace agreement in South Sudan, Khartoum welcomed the mediation of President Kiir to end the armed conflict in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.
In the past, Khartoum declined a proposal made by President Kiir to facilitate peace the talks with SPLM-N saying he is not a neutral party and he continues to support his former comrades before the South Sudan independence.
The two factions did not make any statement on the initiative. Also, SPLM-N officials were not reachable for comment on Kiir’s initiative.
The armed group, which has been fighting Khartoum since June 2011, broke away in April 2017 after the removal of the former secretary general Yasir Arman by the Nuba Mountains Liberation Council in support of Abdel Aziz al-Hilu who calls for self-determination.
The head of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) recently was in Khartoum to discuss the resumption of discussions. He plans to review the process in order to cancel the national dialogue process and move directly to the constitutional conference, a move that the opposition groups reject.
(ST)
