AU invites Sudan’s rebels to next round of talks

The leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) has received an invitation from the AU High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) for the next round of peace negotiations with Sudanese government, to commence in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on 12 November. In response, the spokesman for SPLM-N’s negotiation team, Mubarak Ardol, issued a statement today, saying that the rebel leadership “wants to draw the general public’s attention to the efforts the National Congress Party (NCP) has exerted to impede the work of the AUHIP. “Since the AU issued its resolutions on Sudan, the NCP has been working hard to buy time for the realisation of two main objectives: the continuation of President Omar Al Bashir’s rule through rigged elections, and the launch of a new military ‘dry season offensive’ [on South Kordofan and the Blue Nile].” Ardol stated the SPLM-N has conducted “extensive consultations with its allies and representatives of Sudan’s political and civil societies” about their stance on the peace talks. He furthermore stressed that the Khartoum regime will never be able to eliminate the rebel movement. “They will not do better than during the past years. The only thing they will succeed in is the displacement and death of more civilians.”      File photo: Sudanese government deputy chief negotiator, Omer Suleiman (L), and SPLM-N top negotiator, Yasir Arman, during direct peace negotiations in Addis Ababa, 2 March, 2014 (AUHIP) Related:Resumed peace talks between Sudan government and SPLM-N collapse (24 April 2014) ‘Sudan government, SPLM-N to reach agreement by 30 April’: AUPSC (12 March 2014)‘The Way Forward for Peace in Sudan’: DRDC letter to AU (9 March 2014)

The leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) has received an invitation from the AU High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) for the next round of peace negotiations with Sudanese government, to commence in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on 12 November.

In response, the spokesman for SPLM-N’s negotiation team, Mubarak Ardol, issued a statement today, saying that the rebel leadership “wants to draw the general public’s attention to the efforts the National Congress Party (NCP) has exerted to impede the work of the AUHIP.

“Since the AU issued its resolutions on Sudan, the NCP has been working hard to buy time for the realisation of two main objectives: the continuation of President Omar Al Bashir’s rule through rigged elections, and the launch of a new military ‘dry season offensive’ [on South Kordofan and the Blue Nile].”

Ardol stated the SPLM-N has conducted “extensive consultations with its allies and representatives of Sudan’s political and civil societies” about their stance on the peace talks. He furthermore stressed that the Khartoum regime will never be able to eliminate the rebel movement. “They will not do better than during the past years. The only thing they will succeed in is the displacement and death of more civilians.”     

File photo: Sudanese government deputy chief negotiator, Omer Suleiman (L), and SPLM-N top negotiator, Yasir Arman, during direct peace negotiations in Addis Ababa, 2 March, 2014 (AUHIP)

Related:

Resumed peace talks between Sudan government and SPLM-N collapse (24 April 2014)

‘Sudan government, SPLM-N to reach agreement by 30 April’: AUPSC (12 March 2014)

‘The Way Forward for Peace in Sudan’: DRDC letter to AU (9 March 2014)