Sudan disposed to resume peace talks: minister
November 26, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government Monday reiterated its willingness to hold peace talks with the signatories of the African Union roadmap agreement to achieve peace in Sudan.
The Government Spokesperson and Information Minister Bushara Gumaa Aror said his government is keen to resolve the national issues and call on all the parties including armed groups to listen to the voice of reason and commit themselves to the peace.
“Therefore, the Sudanese government is ready to meet the call for dialogue at any moment and to sit down with the parties to the roadmap: for the movements within the framework of (peace) negotiations, and other parties in order to solving political problems in the framework of our commitment to the Map and the outcomes of the national dialogue,” said Aror.
The minister did not mention any date for the resumption of the peace talks, as the mediation is striving to break the deadlock and bring the parties to make progress in the talks.
The UK Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Christopher Trott, in a Tweet posted on Monday, said he learned that the mediation plans to convene for a meeting between the Sudanese parties in December.
The consultations for the resumption of negotiations with the armed groups in Darfur marked some progress as the government and the two groups involved in the process: Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Gibril Ibrahim, are prepared to sign a pre-negotiation agreement.
After a recent meeting held in Addis Ababa on 22-23 November, the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) said the two leaders initialled the draft framework agreement for the peace talks.
Also, JEM said n a statement released after the meeting that they deleted from the draft agreement the words “Darfur or Sudan” so that the issues on the negotiating table “are unrestricted”.
The African mediators who will broker the political talks between the government and all the opposition groups propose to amend the roadmap and cancel the national dialogue process and move directly to the constitutional conference.
This amendment means that the talks for peace in Darfur or in the Two Areas will be opened to include national issues that were supposed to be discussed at the level of the national dialogue with the participation of the non-armed opposition groups.
(ST)