AU welcomes Sudan agreement on National Dialogue

The AU Commission has welcomed the agreement reached between the 7+7 National Dialogue Steering Committee and the Paris Declaration signatories on their participation in the National Dialogue in Sudan. In a press release issued on Friday, the chairwoman of the AU Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, noted “with satisfaction the constructive exchanges that the Sudanese stakeholders had on a number of issues that are crucial for the future of Sudan, including the peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflicts in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile; arrangement for cessation of hostilities; addressing the humanitarian situation; the protection of rights and freedoms; release of political detainees; and inclusivity in the National Dialogue”. “This agreement followed extensive consultations facilitated by the AU High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) for Sudan and South Sudan, which started in Addis Ababa, on 24 August”, the AU Commission stated in the press release. The leaders of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF, an alliance of the main Sudanese rebel movements) and the National Umma Party (NUP) on Friday signed the Agreement on the National Dialogue and Constitutional Process. The document consists of a statement of principles in general terms, and was agreed on after consultations between representatives of the 7+7 National Dialogue Committee, known as, and the opposition leaders. According to the document, the National Dialogue process should not go forward without first agreeing on “rules and procedures”. This would suggest that another more detailed framework accord is required before the SRF and the NUP will actually participate in the process. Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party has insisted that the dialogue should take place in Sudan, without external mediation, while rebels have been reluctant to accept this because of concerns for their own safety. The document alludes to this, stating that “necessary guarantees shall be put in place for the conduct and the implementation of the dialogue and the constitutional process”. Thabo Mbeki, AUHIP chairman, witnessed the signing of the document, two identical versions of which were signed separately by Malik Agar, chairman of the SRF, and El Sadig El Mahdi, leader of the NUP, and by the 7+7 Committee representatives, Dr Ghazi Salaheldin El Atabani, chairman of the Reform Now Movement (RNM), and Ahmed Saad Omar, Minister at the Presidency, and prominent member of the mainstream Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The chairwoman of the AU Commission commended “the Sudanese parties for this important step in the efforts aimed at addressing the numerous challenges facing Sudan”. She encouraged the parties to “build on this achievement to create conditions conducive for the successful holding of the National Dialogue”. File photo: AUHIP chairman, Thabo Mbeki, members of the SRF, NUP, and the 7+7 Committee after the signing of the Agreement on the National Dialogue and Constitutional Process in Addis Ababa on Friday.  Related: Sudan’s rebels conclude consultations with AU panel (4 September 2014)