JEM, SLM-MM align for peace efforts in Paris

The peace mediation committees of two Sudanese armed movements held workshops in Paris from 8 to 10 September, and discussed future efforts for negotiation with the Government of Sudan.

Delegations of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Arko Minni Minawi discussed the draft of a pre-negotiation agreement with the Sudanese government, and what may be the agenda for future formal or informal meetings with the government.

Chair of the JEM, Jibril Ibrahim Mohamed, told Radio Dabanga that the meetings did not conclude with specific recommendations other than suggestions for the movements’ shared vision that would be communicated to international envoys.

“During the workshops in Paris, we proposed that the relationship between the mediation and the parties to negotiate should be based with mediation from the African Union, the Arab League and the United Nations.

“This requires a memorandum of understanding establishing this relationship.”

Negotiation efforts

Last July, the German special envoy to Sudan called on the two movements to meet in Berlin to discuss future peace negotiations with Khartoum, to revive the peace process and address the humanitarian situation in Sudan’s conflict zones.

The meeting in Berlin on 19 August was attended by representatives of the United States government, followed by a meeting in the French capital Paris.

Jibril Ibrahim said that the negotiations on a cessation of hostilities are planned to be resumed in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, under the auspices of the African Union mechanism.

In an attempt to revive the peace negotiations between the Darfur armed movements and Khartoum, the German government also invited the parties for informal consultations in May. The negotiations, under the auspices of the AUHIP collapsed in August last year, as the government insisted on the 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur as the basis for the talks, while the rebel movements have categorically rejected this agreement signed by Khartoum and a coalition of Darfur breakaway groups.