JEM faction heading towards political participation: Sudan official

An official declared the agreement signed between the government of Sudan and a Darfur rebel group faction “paves the way…to the movement’s political participation or absorption into the armed forces”. The head of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) implementation follow-up office said the treaty signed recently in Doha would lead to the ratification of another protocol. This, he said, would pave the way to the movement’s involvement in political and military sectors “in the coming weeks”. Mohamed Bashar Ahmed, leader of a JEM faction, began direct negotiations with the Sudanese government in Qatar last October focusing on the Doha Document, the peace deal signed in mid-2011 by the Liberation and Justice Movement led by Tijani Sese, and backed by the Gulf emirate. On Sunday, JEM-Bashar joined the Doha peace agreement, which governs relations between the Sudanese government and Darfur armed groups that have left the rebellion. Head of the DDPD implementation follow-up office Amin Hassan Omer said on Monday from Khartoum that JEM-Bashar had asked to be given a chance to look at the offer of the Sudanese government for political participation and for absorbing its forces into the armed services and the police.File photo: Amin Hassan Omer, head of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) implementation follow-up office (Sudan Tribune) Related: Agreement between JEM splinter faction and Sudan government initialed (25 March 2013)