September 1, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - Abdelaziz al-Hilu, head of the SPLM-N, stressed that negotiating peace must address the whole Sudanese crisis but not this region or that like what was done in Juba.

In statements to the newly launched website of his group on Tuesday, al-Hilu said peace talks should be on the Sudanese crisis, not the Darfur crisis, Nuba crisis or Funj crisis.

"Because the problem is basically the problem of Sudan," he said.

Al-Hilu further pointed out that to resolve this problem Sudanese must agree on how to rule the country, the relationship of religion to the state, the question of identity, how to manage diversity, unbalanced development, and territorial administration.

"All these problems should be dealt with through restructuring the Sudanese state on new foundations to accommodate all Sudanese," he added.

Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and other officials said the government initial plan provided to hold talks with the armed groups on the root causes of the conflict not separate tracks for every region.

However, Darfur groups insisted on a different track pointing to the issue of justice and land ownership. Then, the parties agreed that the same agenda should be discussed in separate forums, and to consider the specific plight of Darfur region.

On 18 October 2019, the SPLM-N al-Hilu agreed with the government that the peace talks should include the political issues, humanitarian assistance and security arrangements.

However, the two parties failed to make progress in the talks when the rebel group insisted to include the secular state among the political issues.

Last August, after several months of suspension the SPLM-N al-Hilu agreed to resume talks with the government on the humanitarian issues and security arrangements. But the group withdrew from the negotiating table rejecting the chairmanship of the government delegation by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo Hemetti.

South Sudanese President on Monday pledged to redouble his efforts to bring al-Hilu back to the negotiating table.

Also, the Troika countries, EU and UN, as well as Sudanese officials, called on al-Hilu to resume talks for peace in the country.

The recalcitrant group says, however, committed to the Juba process and the cessation of hostilities.

(ST)