November 16, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) Monday dismissed press reports about their plans to negotiate a peace agreement with the Sudanese government in Juba, following the arrival of its leader to Uganda.

Chief Mediator Tut Gatluak, according to some news reports, told reporters upon his arrival in Khartoum on Sunday that al-Nur had accepted President Salva Kiir’s invitation to negotiate with the government and that he dispatched an advance delegation before his arrival in Juba.

However, the SLM-AW Spokesman Mohamed al-Nayer denied the accuracy of these reports.

"What Tut Gatluak is promoting for about the arrival of Comrade Abdel Wahid to Juba are pure lies and unfounded statements".

"From the beginning, we have a clear opinion about negotiating through the methodology of the (former ruling) National Congress Party. It has not changed and will not change," he further stressed.

Following his arrival to Kampala on 14 November, al-Nur said he was preparing to return to Khartoum for a comprehensive conference to discuss the Sudanese crisis.

"We will present the initiative from inside Sudan. Of course, our arrival in Africa is the first step on the road to Sudan," al-Nur said.

"The peace we want begins with providing security to people on the ground, disarming militias, returning displaced persons to their villages of origin and paying compensation," he stressed.

He further called for a transitional government consisting of independents that would lead the country out of the war state to the state of citizenship as he said.

The SLM-AW Deputy Chairman Abdalla Haran Adam arrived in Juba on 10 November 2020 to brief the South Sudanese government officials about the group’s plan to achieve peace in Sudan.

(ST)