Al Bashir envoy: No deadline to resume peace talks

Sudan’s presidential envoy for diplomatic negotiation for Darfur says that no time limit has been set for the resumption of peace talks with the armed movements.

Dr Amin Hassan Omar explained that this would be done after the completion of consultations with all parties by the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). Omar met an envoy of the panel, in the presence of the head of the African Union (AU) office in Khartoum.

They discussed ways to resume talks on the Roadmap Agreement as well as integrating various initiatives including recent efforts in Germany to accelerate resumption of the negotiations, Omar told Sudanese media.

“The meeting came to consult with the government on the quickest way to re-negotiate the roadmap and its relationship with the initiatives of the various parties,” he said, referring to the German initiative in April. Delegations representing the Sudanese government, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minawi (SLM-MM)ended two-day discussions in Berlin. They were unable to sign a pre-negotiation agreement at the time.

Both sides blamed each other for the impasse during the pre-negotiations round. The delegation from Khartoum suggested to the movements to join the Doha Document, dating from 2011. Meanwhile the two rebel groups insisted on the establishment of independent commissions prior to signing any agreement, which Khartoum sees as breaking the Doha peace agreement.

Pre-negotiations

The AUHIP led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki proposed a holistic process to end the armed conflicts and produce political reforms in Sudan. Germany and the AUHIP signed a deal to facilitate the two-track process for a comprehensive peace agreement in Sudan. These have failed to reach a tangible result, in spite of several attempts to revive the talks by preparing a pre-negotiation agenda, including sessions in Paris, France, in September 2017 and discussions in Germany.

The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdelwahid El Nur (SLM-AW), currently fighting against Sudan’s military and paramilitary forces closing in on its strongholds in Jebel Marra, has declined to join any peace process.