Sudan government ‘ready’ to negotiate with rebels

15/11/2013 22:18

The Sudanese government announced it is “ready” to resume negotiations with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) on conflicts in Blue Nile and South Kordofan.Dr Ibrahim Ghandour, head of Khartoum’s negotiating team, said the talks would be based on peace agreements and on the UN Security Council Resolution 2046, which calls for the cessation of hostilities in border areas.“The government is ready to sit down to negotiate”, he said. However, Ghandour denied having received an invitation by the African Union mediation team to attend talks.The Khartoum delegation prepared a “tool kit” based on the directives of President Omar Al Bashir, who showed willingness to enter negotiations with the SPLM-N in a recent address to the parliament.Ghandour added he informed representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Sudan about the government’s position regarding achieving peace in the country.’Lies’For its part, the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebel alliance Ghandour’s announcement are “manoeuvres and lies”.“This comes after the SRF raised international and regional pressure on Khartoum,” the rebels Secretary of Foreign Relations and spokesman, Yasir Arman, said from Italy. “It is very clear that Khartoum does not want peace but war.”Arman said the Khartoum regime wants partial solutions to the problems in Sudan, and offered them “jobs”. “We are not in need of jobs or functions. We are in considerable need to replace the entire regime with the participation of all political forces,”Arman told Radio Dabanga.Ghandour’s calls for negotiations came after the SRF forces destroyed government troops that had gone to the Nuba Mountains and Darfur.The rebels spokesman claimed the regime in Khartoum is “contradictory and speaks with more than one tongue”. Arman was referencing to a recent speech by Al Bashir in El Obeid, North Kordofan, in which he said that rebels would be “crushed”.“Ghandour himself was invited on 4 November to come to Addis Ababa, but he refused to come to discuss the vaccination of children in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile,” Arman said.File photo: South Kordofan 

The Sudanese government announced it is “ready” to resume negotiations with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) on conflicts in Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

Dr Ibrahim Ghandour, head of Khartoum’s negotiating team, said the talks would be based on peace agreements and on the UN Security Council Resolution 2046, which calls for the cessation of hostilities in border areas.

“The government is ready to sit down to negotiate”, he said. However, Ghandour denied having received an invitation by the African Union mediation team to attend talks.

The Khartoum delegation prepared a “tool kit” based on the directives of President Omar Al Bashir, who showed willingness to enter negotiations with the SPLM-N in a recent address to the parliament.

Ghandour added he informed representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Sudan about the government’s position regarding achieving peace in the country.

‘Lies’

For its part, the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebel alliance Ghandour’s announcement are “manoeuvres and lies”.

“This comes after the SRF raised international and regional pressure on Khartoum,” the rebels Secretary of Foreign Relations and spokesman, Yasir Arman, said from Italy. “It is very clear that Khartoum does not want peace but war.”

Arman said the Khartoum regime wants partial solutions to the problems in Sudan, and offered them “jobs”. “We are not in need of jobs or functions. We are in considerable need to replace the entire regime with the participation of all political forces,”Arman told Radio Dabanga.

Ghandour’s calls for negotiations came after the SRF forces destroyed government troops that had gone to the Nuba Mountains and Darfur.

The rebels spokesman claimed the regime in Khartoum is “contradictory and speaks with more than one tongue”. Arman was referencing to a recent speech by Al Bashir in El Obeid, North Kordofan, in which he said that rebels would be “crushed”.

“Ghandour himself was invited on 4 November to come to Addis Ababa, but he refused to come to discuss the vaccination of children in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile,” Arman said.

File photo: South Kordofan