International efforts to solve Sudan peace talks impasse

Germany has proposed a solution for the dilemmas facing the AU road map for the Sudanese peace talks, leaders of the Sudan Call said on Friday.

Sudanese opposition leaders, headed by the National Umma Party leader El Sadig El Mahdi, met with representatives of the German Foreign Ministry and the Berghof Foundation in Berlin on Friday, for consultations concerning the stalled peace negotiations for Darfur and the Two Areas (South Kordofan and Blue Nile states).

“The German initiative will be developed with all parties to the conflict,” the leaders of the Sudan Call, a coalition of Sudanese opposition parties and armed movements, said in a statement after the meeting. This will be done “in full coordination with the AU High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), the Sudan Troika (USA, UK, and Norway), France, and the UN, to end the civil wars in Sudan and achieve peace and democratisation.”

The Sudan Call leaders affirmed their commitment “to work with all legitimate means to achieve real change in Sudan”.

A “negotiated comprehensive peaceful solution is one of the objectives of the Sudan Call forces and one of its means to achieve a just and comprehensive peace and democratic transformation,” they stated. “The presidential and executive councils of the Sudan Call will hold consultations with all opposition forces in Sudan with the aim to realise the hopes of our people for a comprehensive peace and a genuine democratic transition.”

Democratic reforms

Minni Minawi, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) and secretary-general of the Sudan Call coalition, told Radio Dabanga after the meeting that they “elaborately discussed the current political situation in Sudan, which is characterised by total oppression.

“During the meeting we stressed our readiness to reach a comprehensive political solution to achieve peace, and rebuild a Sudan based on citizenship for everyone without discrimination,” he said.

This should be done after the formation of a transitional government “that should not be led by the ruling National Congress Party”.

Migration

The rebel leader lauded the German government for their support. “However, we also expressed our reservations to what is known as the Khartoum operation to stop illegal migrants to enter Europe”.

He criticised the EU for offering financial support to the Sudanese government for combating illegal migration to Europe.

“This EU programme only supports the Sudanese security apparatus and its Rapid Support Forces militia,” he said. “Because of the lack of decent living standards in the homelands of the migrants, especially Sudan, they need help to achieve democracy and political stability, which will provide them with decent living conditions and employment opportunities”.

Peace talks

Peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebel leaders under auspices of the AUHIP repeately collapsed in the past years. In April this year, the German government, in coordination with the AU mediators, arranged a 'Berlin negotiation round' between Khartoum and the Darfuri SLM-MM and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) – which failed as well.

Minawi said at the time that “the failure of the round was caused by the intransigence of the government delegation and its provocative rhetoric”. Dr Amin Omar, the government responsible for the Darfur file, blamed the rebel leaders for refusing to join the existing Doha Document for Peace in Darfur.