‘No US initiative on the cards’

State says there’s only a meeting scheduled in Washington to discuss peace efforts

Dr Amin Hassan Omar, head of the Sudanese delegation for negotiating peace in Darfur, denied on Thursday of there being any initiative led by the US with respect to the Doha agreement. Dr Amin said in Khartoum, “I had a meeting in person with the US envoy (Dane Smith) and asked him about the US initiative. I received an explanation from the official that he had just asked for a meeting between the various parties involved to talk about peace efforts.”

The Sudanese delegate stressed that there was a difference between an initiative and a meeting. He concluded that the Sudanese regime would consider attending the meeting if given a formal invitation.

“We don’t have a formal invitation from the US administration yet. Once we get that I can comment on whether we are attending the meeting or not,” he said.

The US had invited all concerned groups, both armed opposition groups and the Sudanese government, to Washington to discuss the discrepancies in the Doha Peace Agreement.

The Doha Peace Agreement, signed between the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) on July 14, has been criticized of not including the main opposition groups in the treaty.