September 14, 2020 - (KHARTOUM) - The French Ambassador to Khartoum, Emmanuel Blatmann, Monday affirmed her country’s commitment to convince the holdout groups to join the peace process in Sudan.

Blatmann met on Monday with the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council to offer condolences of the French government for the victims of the floods that swept across large parts of Sudan.

In press statements after the meeting with Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, she stressed France’s commitment "to convince all remaining parties that are still outside the (peace) process to join it now".

The French diplomat was alluding to the exiled rebel leader Abdel Wahid al-Nur who resides in Paris.

The Sudanese Prime Minister and other members of the military component in the transitional authority sought to convince him to join the Juba mediated process in vain.

Earlier this month, the spokesman of the Sudan Liberation Movement- Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) reiterated the group rejection to join the negotiating table but spoke about their plans to hold a comprehensive conference for peace inside Sudan.

The French ambassador who was not in Sudan during the past month said that she congratulated al-Burhan on the initialling of the peace agreement in Juba between the government and the armed movements.

Blatmann renewed her country’s keenness to support the transitional period and stand by the Sudanese people during the exceptional circumstances their country is going through.

Further, the French ambassador applauded the Joint Agreement on how to discuss the separation between state and religion signed recently between Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and the head of the SPLM-North, Abdelaziz al-Hilu, describing it as an important step to achieve a comprehensive peace in Sudan.

"The time has come to achieve permanent and comprehensive peace in Sudan," she said.

(ST)