Burhan, Hilu to meet in Juba on Saturday: Sudan’s peace mediator

March 25, 2021 (JUBA) – The head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan will meet with the head of the SPLM – North Abdel Aziz al-Hilu in Juba Saturday to discuss the stalled peace process, said the chief mediator.

Al-Burhan had previously met Al-Hilu at Juba Airport on March 3. The holdout movement, at the time, said that the meeting aimed at breaking the deadlock and revitalizing the stalled peace process between the two parties since August 2020.

“The Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council will arrive in Juba next Saturday to” reactivate dialogue with the SPLM-N as he will hold a closed-door meeting with Abdel Aziz al-Hilu,” said the Chief Mediator, Tut Gatluak.

At the agenda of the meeting, the two sides will discuss the inclusion of the relationship between the state and religion in the peace process.

last November, the military component of the Sudanese government rejected the recommendations of a workshop between the SPLM-N and the government, supporting the separation between the state and religion.

Gatluak was speaking after a meeting between President Salva Kiir and the deputy chairman of the Transitional Council Mohamed Hamdan Daglo Hemetti.

Hemetti attended the African Peace Prize award ceremony to President Salva Kiir for his efforts to achieve peace in South Sudan and Sudan.

The prize was also given by the African Private Television Union to Hemetti and the peace mediation team during an event held in Juba at Freedom Hall.

(ST)