Sudanese can strike comprehensive peace deal by end of February: official

January 4, 2020 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government Saturday expressed hope to conclude a comprehensive peace agreement with the various armed groups before the deadline specified in the constitutional document in February 2020.

The Constitutional Document signed between the military council and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) on August 22, provides to reach a lasting peace with the armed movements within a six-month period that ends in February.

Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi, Sovereignty Council member spokesman for the government negotiating delegation told reporters in Juba that a comprehensive peace deal addressing the issues of the different regions remains possible before the expiration of the period indicated in the constitutional document.

Al-Taishi who was speaking after a session of talks with the SPLM-N led by Malik Agar added that discussions with the armed group have reached advanced stages in most of the files.

“Only remains the files of security arrangements and power-sharing” he added.

The spokesman for the government delegation pointed out that talks on the Darfur crisis have also reached an advanced stage after the recent signing of a comprehensive deal after reaching a framework agreement.

“We want to reach a comprehensive agreement that reassures the partners who have strategic interests with Sudan related to stability in the whole region,” he said.

Also, he stated that it was agreed with the SPLM-N led by Malik Agar that the Constitutional Conference represents one of the mechanisms through which the Sudanese parties will work to reach a consensus on the fundamental issues of Sudan.

The Sudanese official was alluding to the SPLM-N Agar position on the issue of the relation between the state and religion.

Agar says that the secular state should be discussed in the constitutional conference but he insists on a large autonomy for the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

For his part, the spokesperson for the South Sudanese mediation, Dhieu Mathok, announced the suspension of negotiations between the SPLM-N AGar and the government until next Monday as a technical delegation will come from Khartoum to participate in the talks on the security arrangements.

Mathok further expected the resumption of talks between the government and the SPLM-N led bu Abdel Aziz al-Hilu next week after the end of the two-weeks postponement for consultations with their bases and local leaders over the secular state.

Al-Hilu, in recent statements, reiterated that the government has to accept the secular state or give them the right to self-determination.

Yasir Arman, deputy head of the SPLM-N Agar told reporters that the session of talks discussed several items in the draft framework agreement filed by the Movement, including holding a constitutional conference before the end of the transitional period to discuss how Sudan is governed.

He underscored the importance of the security arrangements in the negotiations and the need to discuss it in a unified meeting with the armed groups.

He said that the Rapid Support Forces militias, the regular army, and armed groups can be unified into one professional national army with a new military doctrine that “preserves the civil state and promotes democracy”.

(ST)