AUHIP chairman meets with Sudan Revolutionary Front leaders

The chairman of the African Union High-Level Panel (AUHIP), Thabo Mbeki, on Sunday held talks in Addis Ababa with three representatives of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF, an alliance of opposition groups and armed movements) on solutions for the crises in Sudan. El Tom Hajo, SRF Head of Media, told Radio Dabanga from Addis Ababa that the meeting, which lasted for an hour and a half, focused on SRF’s vision on a comprehensive and fair solution for the crises in Sudan, its rejection of partial solutions, and the importance of unifying the Darfur and South Kordofan/Blue Nile negotiation platforms. The three SRF leaders, Dr Jibril Ibrahim of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Minni Minawi, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement, MM faction, and El Tom Hajo, of the Democratic Unionist Party, handed Mbeki a paper clarifying the details of their vision on a comprehensive solution, and the requirements to create a conducive environment for a national dialogue. “All political prisoners are to be released and laws restricting freedoms should be appealed. Freedom of opinion, expression, and political activities are the requirements without which there will be no dialogue.” The peace negotiations between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N, member of the SRF), facilitated by AUHIP, collapsed on 16 February. The SPLM-N insisted on a comprehensive solution for “all crises in Sudan”, while the government delegation kept to its conviction of confining the negotiations to the states of South Kordofan and the Blue Nile.‘28 June agreement’ The SPLM-N called on the AU Peace and Security Council (AUSPC) to include the Framework Agreement between the Sudanese government and the SPLM-N of 28 June 2011 in a new decision to be prepared for the resolution of armed conflicts in Sudan. In the agreement, that was unilaterally cancelled by the Sudanese President about a week after it was signed, the basic principles for a political partnership between the ruling National Congress Party and the SPLM-N were laid down, apart from political and security arrangements for the Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The SPLM-N further suggested the formation of a four-member panel to facilitate the national conference “with a clear roadmap and agreeable procedures in a conducive atmosphere and confidence building measures agreed by the stakeholders”. This panel should include the AUHIP, the Darfur joint mediator, UN Special Envoy for the Sudan, and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Sudan Tribune stated today. The AUPSC is expected to release a decision calling for a comprehensive process for peace in Sudan, including the rebels in the Two Areas and Darfur region, in the upcoming hours. File photo: Dr Jibril Ibrahim of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)  Related:‘AU agrees with unification of the peace negotiation platforms’: rebels (10 March 2014) Unamid head meets with AU, Darfur rebels, and Arab League (9 March 2014)Sudan committed to dialogue with SPLM-N: Al Bashir (25 February 2014)Negotiations between Sudan government and SPLM-N collapse (16 February 2014)