SLM-Minnawi suspends participation in Juba process for peace in Sudan
April 11, 2020 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Arko Minnawi (SLM-MM) suspended its participation in the Juba process for peace in Sudan blaming the South Sudanese mediation for not consulting them on the extension of the talks.
Two days ago, the South Sudanese chief mediator Tut Kew Gatluak announced on Thursday that the Sudanese negotiating parties agreed to extend the negotiations until next May 9.
Gatluak was flanked by the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) Secretary-General Gibril Ibrahim who is also the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, Tahir Hajar leader of the Sudan Liberation Forces Alliance (SLFA) and Nimir Abdel-Rahman SLM- Transitional Council Chief Negotiator.
The head of the Sudanese government negotiating team Mohamed Hasan al-Taishi and SRF leader Hadi Idriss were not in Juba.
In a media briefing via video conference from Juba on Friday, the SLM-MM’s chief negotiator, Mohamed Bashir, criticized the South Sudanese mediation, saying that it takes decisions without consulting all the parties of the process.
According to Bashir, after the death of the Sudanese defence minister the mediation held a meeting with some parties and decided the suspension of talks for a week without them.
The same happened when the mediation opted for the indirect talks on the backdrop of the restrictions imposed in Juba to fight the spread of the coronavirus. He said this decision was made without them after their refusal to reduce the number of negotiators to two per group.
Further, the SLM-MM chief negotiator said he had proposed to the other groups in Darfur track to formally submit a written protest letter to the mediation on this respect but some groups said it was not necessary.
“It within this context that we have been asked by the mediation to come to sign the extension agreement of the negotiations (…) and I refused to join them and to sign the letter because there should first a meeting to discuss the matter before to endorse it”
“After consulting the SLM leadership it was decided to write a letter including all these failures and to say that we cannot continue to negotiate in this manner”
It is worth noting that the mediation said that the one-month extension took was endorsed by the government and the SRF groups.
The extension agreement seen by Sudan Tribune was signed by all the SRF groups except the SLM-MM.
Observers say the approval of the necessary extension by all the other SRF factions, however, shows that all the armed groups are not on the same page.
Root Causes Not Addressed
For his part, Nour Al-Daiem Taha, media official of the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minawi, stressed that “peace is as a strategic choice for the Movement, but negotiations during the last stage focused on non-core issues and failed to address the root causes of the crisis”.
According to Taha who is also a member of the SLM-MM negotiating team, the discussions on the compensation file did not include an agreement on the amount of the money allocated to the displaced persons and refugees, nor the amount of the rehabilitation fund.
Also, with regard to the wealth-sharing, not agreement has been yet reached on the percentage of Darfur region. The same on the political representation of the Darfur region in the federal or regional institutions.
“These are the root cause of the war, and no peace can be reached without it,” he said.
Taha stressed that they indicated in their letter to mediation, that no peace can be reached if it continues with the same approach as the previous period.
“Also, the behaviour of the partners (in Darfur track) who went with the mediator (to declare the one-month extension of the talks) does not reflect the spirit of partnership and teamwork that should drive their commitment for a just cause we struggle together to defend”
“Therefore, we announce the freezing of our participation in the process until formal consultations with the Movement’s leadership are held and until the issues that led to the suspension of participation are addressed,” he said.
Harmful SRF partners
In his statements, Taha who is very close to Minnawi spoke for the first time about their SRF partners in the other tracks particularly Central Sudan track without naming them.
He said they have “substantial reservations” about the efforts of some SRF parties that are seeking to achieve some goals for themselves to the detriment of the Darfur issue.
“There are parties that are trying to procrastinate the Darfur issue and to put on the same level some areas that were not affected by the war”.
“That is why we say that our priority at the Juba process is to achieve peace and stop the war in Darfur, the Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains”.
The Central Sudan track of al-Tom Hajo was the only area that can fit with what he said.
(ST)