New JEM to join Sudanese National Dialogue

The New Justice and Equality Movement (NJEM), has declared its intention to join the Sudanese National Dialogue after Khartoum consented to a number of preconditions.

NJEM leader Mansour Arbab Younis was speaking at a press conference on Tuesday at the dialogue headquarters, Friendship Hall in Khartoum. He said the Sudanese government “accepted most of the conditions the movement had put forward, foremostly the extension of the ceasefire and the extension of the National Dialogue duration, to allow others to join the dialogue initiative”.

The NJEM is a breakaway faction from the mainstream Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) armed rebel group. The Movement’s leadership arrived at Khartoum two weeks ago, but refrained from joining the process until the government fulfilled a package of prerequisites that include the publication of a list of rebels detained in the Nakhara battle, which was fought in late April 2015 in South Darfur, between government forces and the JEM.

“Our movement supports the dialogue process. We have met several political parties and forces engaged in the dialogue, looked into the discussions of the dialogue’s six committees, and exchanged views and ideas for future cooperation with those powers.”

Younis voiced his appreciation of the recent decision by President Omar Al Bashir to extend the ceasefire and the dialogue duration for one month, “which can allow more dialogue holdouts to join in”.