Beja Congress wants Sudanese opposition alliance to discuss “tensions”

KHARTOUM, Jan 16, 2005 (Alwan) — The armed Beja Congress faction has called for the holding of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leadership council meeting in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, on 29 January.

National Democratic Alliance delegation from the left Abdulrahman Saeed, Hatim Alsir and Al Shafei Khider during the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the SPLA and the Sudan Government in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, Januray 9, 2005. (Sudan Tribune).

The secretary-general of the Beja Congress, Abdallah Kunnah, pointed to the need to carry out major reforms within the NDA hierarchy. He said this was the second time he was calling for the holding of this meeting to discuss the dangerous excesses and tensions among the various factions of the NDA.

Meanwhile, Kunnah reiterated that the Beja Congress and the Free Lions have called for the boycott of the Cairo talks between the government and the NDA, which is expected to end today with the signing of a final agreement between the two sides.

They described what had been mentioned in the preamble of the framework agreement between the government and the NDA concerning eastern Sudan as generalizations and expressions of “public relations”.

The secretary-general of the Beja Congress welcomed the UN Security Council resolution which calls for the deployment of peacekeeping forces in eastern Sudan within the coming 45 days [as published], considering it an international initiative reflecting concern over the situation in eastern Sudan.

Kunnah said they had heard of the Security Council resolution and knew this came about in accordance with some articles contained in the recent peace agreement, although they Beja Congress had not been consulted.

Material provided by the BBC Monitoring Service.