June 22, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government announced that it has received an official invitation from South Sudan’s mediation to resume negotiations with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North of Abdel Aziz al-Hilu (SPLM-N al-Hilu) on Tuesday.

"We received an invitation from the mediation to take part in a dialogue session via video conference on Tuesday with the SPLM-N al-Hilu negotiating delegation," said a spokesman for the government delegation, negotiator Mohamed Hassan Eltaishi in a statement on Monday.

Eltaishi said that the meeting agenda includes three items: cessation of hostilities, humanitarian assistance, continuing the dialogue on the declaration of principles.

The statement stressed the readiness of the government of Sudan and its keenness to continue the dialogue to break the deadlock in the negotiations with the SPLM-N, in an effort to reach a just and comprehensive peace that addresses the issues of war and peace in Sudan.

Talks between the government and rebels are stalled over a demand by the SPLM-N al-Hilu to include the secular state and the right to self-determination in the peace talks, a request that the transitional government had rejected.

Initially, the government planned to conclude peace talks with the armed groups within six months after the agreement on the constitutional document, but talks are still taking place in Juba with no date on the horizon for an eventual peace agreement.

(ST)