Sudan rules out national constitutional conference

KHARTOUM, Nov 27, 2004 (Al-Sahafah) — The Sudanese government has ruled out proposals by political parties for a peace agreement through a national constitutional conference.

The presidential advisor on political affairs, Qutbi al-Mahdi, said that holding of national constitutional conference was totally out of the question referring to a statement at the Sudan Media Centre (SMC) concerning government negotiations with all political parties.

He said “we discussed all the issues at the Naivasha negotiations and concluded them at the Cairo talks with the opposition National Democratic alliance (NDA), and in Abuja talks with the Darfur rebels.”

Mr Al-Mahdi stated the government’s determination to hold dialogue with the opposition NDA, the same way it was holding negotiations with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in matters concerning their participation in the government.

He said most of the issues pertaining to political parties had been dealt with in the Naivasha agreement.

Material from the BBC Monitoring Service