AUHIP chairman concludes Sudan visit

The chairman of the AU High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki will meet with the Sudan Revolutionary Front rebel alliance later in August to discuss the peace negotiations as well as the national dialogue called for by President Al Bashir in January last year.

The former South African President is currently visiting the Sudanese government in Khartoum, where he discussed the proposal of merging the peace negotiations on the Two Areas (South Kordofan and the Blue Nile) and Darfur with a broad national dialogue, to be convened in Addis Ababa.

In a press conference held in the Sudanese capital on Tuesday, Mbeki stated that the government adheres to its rejection of the merger as well as to hold the dialogue abroad. He said that the government will provide guarantees to secure the participation of the SRF leadership in the dialogue.

The government is willing to agree on a ceasefire for the Two Areas, where war broke out in 2011, he said. As for Darfur, Khartoum keeps to its stance that the remaining rebel movements should join the 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur.

Mbeki told the reporters that he has also met with representatives of opposition parties, who stressed that they will only participate in the dialogue when civil freedoms have been restored and all political detainees are released. The opposition parties also demanded a clear roadmap for the dialogue process.

The AUHIP chairman will submit a detailed report to the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) after consultations with all Sudanese stakeholders have been completed.