AU mediators propose compromise to Sudan’s warring parties

The opposition forces participating in the consultation meeting with the Sudanese government in Addis Ababa under auspices of the AU High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), have presented a joint paper representing their collective views on a “comprehensive peace process”.

On Friday, the AUHIP-brokered “strategic consultation meeting” commenced in the Ethiopian capital, attended by a Sudanese government delegation, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), the Sudan Liberation Movement faction led by Minni Minawi (SLM-MM), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and the National Umma Party (NUP).

In an interview with Radio Dabanga to be broadcast today, JEM head, Dr Jibril Ibrahim Mohamed, said that the joint paper was submitted at the request of the mediation team.

He stated that the opposition’s priority is to stop the wars and the delivery of relief to the affected. “We are ready to negotiate the cessation of hostilities in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.”

After the AUHIP team, chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, received the position papers of the allied opposition and the Government of Sudan, it presented its compromise proposal on Sunday. The AUHIP then discussed the proposal with the rebel movements and the NUP until late on Sunday evening.

The Sudanese government delegation had already left on Sunday. Today, Mbeki will brief President Al Bashir in Khartoum on the outcomes.

“The Sudanese government prefers to end the country’s political crisis militarily.”

'Khartoum not willing to compromise'

The Communist Party of Sudan said in a statement on Sunday that the consultative meeting in the Ethiopian capital will not reach a solution because the Sudanese government prefers to end the country’s political crisis militarily.

“Khartoum is not willing to compromise, while the most urgent issue is to stop the military escalation in Darfur and the Two Areas [Blue Nile and South Kordofan],” the statement reads.

The Communist Party further demands “the restoration of the democratic rights”. It urges “seriously addressing the country’s economic crisis, the rehabilitation the Sudanese industry and service sectors, and the prevention of displacing thousands of people in northern Sudan by abolishing the plans to construct more dams in the region”.

The statement pointed out that “a comprehensive solution to the Sudanese crises will come through the ousting or dismantling of the regime, the ending of the war, opening channels for the provision of humanitarian assistance, the return of displaced to their areas of origin, and the abolishment of the laws that restrict the public freedoms, and formation of a transitional government that will work for the establishment of a democratic civil state”.