El Mahdi proposes to mediate talks with rebel groups

Yesterday, El Sadig El Mahdi, Chairman of the National Umma Party (NUP) and head of the Sudan Call alliance, announced at a press conference that “the alliance will accept the call of the South Sudanese government to mediate with Abdelaziz El Hilu, head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N El Hilu) in Juba”.

El Sadig El Mahdi expressed his blessing for the Sudan Call to take steps with the Sudan Revolutionary Front (a coalition of rebel groups in Sudan) to pave the way for a just and comprehensive peace agreement.

He stressed that the national interest requires a consensus between all parties that preserves the gains of the revolution and reduces the risk of confrontation.

He said "We are against any escalation to violence before the military council announces its final position" on the structure of an interim civilian-led government. The party rejects the formation of any government in the country by one party and the exclusion of others, according to El Mahdi.

Ehtiopian and AU mediation

On the initiatives by mediators, El Mahdi said that the result of merging the intiatives of the African Union and Ethiopia will take into account all parties, describing what has happened as positive progress.

He also called on armed forces to “recognise their responsibility for the tragedy of June 3” when the Khartoum sit-in was broken up, resulting in the death of over 100 people.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction headed by Abdelaziz El Hilu (SPLM-N El Hilu) described the TMC’s rejection of the Ethiopian mediation proposal as an attempt to gain time and manipulate the situation to their benefit, in a statement yesterday made by spokesman Jaber Kumundan.

He added, “It is clear that the junta are serving a foreign agenda by cooperating with and supporting the position of Arabian countries. In particular Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt have Arab-Islamic imperial ambitions in Sudan”.

In the statement, the movement urged people to continue to protest and aid the construction of a new society that respects diversity and seeks voluntary unity among Sudanese people.

Junta contact with rebels

On Monday, the military junta called on Abdelaziz El Hilu, commander-in-chief of the Nuba Mountains faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N El Hilu) to join the peace talks immediately.

Hemeti revealed that TMC spokesman Lt Gen Shamseldin El Kabbashi had made contact with El Hilu, but he did not disclose the contents and the timing of the contact. He did report a TMC delegate had been sent to El Hilu, who met with him in South Sudan. Hemeti said the junta would arrive for talks in the next two days, either in rebel-held Kauda in South Kordofan, or in South Sudan.

Calls for investigation

The head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction in South Kordofan (SPLM-N El Hilu), Abdelaziz El Hilu, demanded an immediate investigation, under regional and international supervision, into the dismantling of the sit-in in front of the General Command. The perpetrators must be held accountable and punished, he said.

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