Sudan’s negotiations with LJM and JEM on hold

The Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) announced that the negotiations between it and the government have not yet finished and stated that there are still three issues pending. JEM, meanwhile, announced that talks are on hold.The outstanding issues are: the referendum on the administrative status of Darfur; the post of the first-vice president to be given to a Darfuri; and the amount of forces which will be integrated. The chief negotiator of the movement, Taj Eldin Niam, said that they are waiting for the return of the government’s delegation, which pulled out of the talks during the period coinciding with the Regional Conference of the International Criminal Court hosted in Qatar lately.

Niam also revealed that involving the presidential assistant, Nafie Ali Nafie, and a number of ministers from the Government of National Unity, besides leaders of civil society and effective international parties, could lead to solving the outstanding issues and expected that a peace document could be produced to the Civil Society Conference with the two sides in agreement. Niam also defended the path his party is taking to sign an agreement with the government, affirming that the movement would be able to make the agreement work.

From its side, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said that negotiations between it and the government are still suspended and that it expected that the round of negotiations would be held at a later time upon an appeal by the mediator who will replace Djibril Bassolé.

Bassolé is expected to leave the mediation team officially after the Civil Society conference. The JEM chief negotiator, Ahmed Tugud Lisan, said that he is expecting that the mediator would not propose a peace document to the participants of the conference. He also opined that the government is focusing very much on signing a peace agreement with one faction only.