Sunday, October 26, 2014

Mbeki Travels to Khartoum to Discuss Resumption of Peace Talks
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki with Sudan President
Omer Hassan al-Bashir during 2013.
October 25, 2014 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government on Saturday said that the head of the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP), Thabo Mbeki, will arrive in the country on the fourth of November to meet with president Omer Hassan al-Bashir.

The government-sponsored Sudan Media Center (SMC) website has quoted Sudan’s chief negotiator, Ibrahim Ghandour, as saying that “Mbeki will discuss with Bashir the national dialogue process and resumption of talks on the Two Areas and Darfur”.

Ghandour pointed that Mbeki will meet with government officials and leaders of various political parties besides meeting with the government delegation for the Addis Ababa negotiations with the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N).

In early September, the rebel alliance of the Sudan Revolutionary Forces (SRF) and the dialogue committee known as 7+7 signed separate agreements with the AUHIP in Addis Ababa on the national dialogue and constitutional process providing that a comprehensive political agreement is the ideal option to end war and achieve democratic reforms.

During the same month, the African Union mediator announced that Sudanese government delegation will hold parallel meetings with the SPLM-N on 12 October and another one with Darfur rebel groups on 16 October to discuss a cessation of hostilities agreement.

The process aims to reach a cessation of hostilities agreements, before to engage in a national dialogue process including all the political parties and rebel groups inside the country.

However, the Sudanese government on 5 October announced that talks with the SPLM-N on the Two Areas have been postponed until after 25 October, stating engagement of some members of its negotiating team in preparations for the ruling party’s convention besides absence of several others who were performing Hajj.

The border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile state have been the scene of a violent conflict since 2011 when fighting broke out between the SPLM-N and Sudanese army (SAF).

(ST)

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