Sudan’s groups urge African mediators to stop negotiation tactic deadlines

September 17, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Gibril Ibrahim Friday disclosed they requested the African Union mediation to dedicate more time for the preparations of the upcoming round of talks adding no date has been determined yet for its resumption.

Last August, after a week of negotiations with the government over a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements the mediation suspended the discussions between the warring parties in Sudan’s two areas and Darfur region.

Sudanese officials recently expected the resumption of talks soon, and announced a visit by the head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki to Khartoum ahead of the negotiations.

However , JEM leader who is currently visiting the French capital Paris told Sudan Tribune that no date has been yet determined. He further said they informed an AUHIP delegation during a recent meeting held in Kampala they would not join the negotiating table before the good preparations for the short rounds of negotiations the mediation used to hold.

He said together with Minni Minnawi the leader of Sudan Liberation Movement faction, they recommended to not call for a new round of talks without good preparations and making every diplomatic effort to narrow the gaps between the parties.

Ibrahim further told a limited number of journalists and activists that they asked the mediation not to set a deadline for the negotiations. " We told them if there is a problem in the means, the mediation should search further funding."

"So, no specific date has been fixed for the resumption of negotiations," he concluded.

The talks on peace in Darfur between the Sudanese government, JEM and SLM-MM are stalled over four points: the rebel rejection of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), the determination of the exact location of their sites, release of the prisoners of war and the establishment of a mechanism to monitor the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

JEM leader explained they asked to open the DDPD for negotiations to review some issues but the government refused. Following what they proposed to keep the framework agreement aside and to negotiate new deal but the government also rejected their proposal.

"That means there would be no political or economic discussions and we would only negotiate security arrangements and power sharing protocols," he stressed, pointing they are interested in justice and reforms.

According to Ibrahim the mediation held a separate meeting in Kampala with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement to discuss the differences between them and the Sudanese government on the humanitarian access, as they diverge over the delivery of 20% of the aid from Ethiopia.

He confirmed that the Sudan Call groups will meet in Addis Ababa from 25 to 30 September to discuss the preparatory meeting to coordinate positions and discuss some organizational matters.

Ibrahim who chairs a faction of the Sudan revolutionary Front stressed that the good coordination between the opposition forces, which include political and military groups, is needed more than any structural reforms.

He also, the preparatory or the strategic meeting between the government and opposition groups will discuss the other confidence building measures besides the humanitarian truce such as the release of prisoners and ensuring public freedoms through the suspension of the National Security Act of 2010.

The meeting will discuss the participation of the "Call of Sudan" and other opposition forces in a comprehensive and genuine national dialogue and how to enable them to implement its outputs. This requires restructuring the National Congress Party controlled process in Khartoum, he added.

He regretted that some opposition groups decided to boycott the negotiations with the government before too fulfill a number of conditions saying they want to bring these preconditions on the negotiating table.

Some groups of the National Consensus Forces refused to take part in the African Union brokered negotiations before the creation of a conducive environment and the acceptance of Bashir’s government to form a transitional cabinet to implement the outcome of the national dialogue.