NUP, AUHIP heads discuss Darfur roadmap

The head of Sudan’s National Umma Party, Imam El Sadig El Mahdi, met with the chairman of the AU High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), former South African President Thabo Mbeki, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday.

El Mahdi says he was invited to Johannesburg by Mbeki “to find out the reasons for the Sudan Appeal forces’ refusal to sign the AUHIP roadmap”, which was signed by the government in Addis Ababa in March.

El Mahdi says he explained “the reasons for Sudan Appeal forces’ reluctance to sign the roadmap do not imply non-recognition of the pros of the roadmap, or non-appreciation of its goals”.

He said in a statement that “there are points that should be kept in mind such as the proposed preparatory meeting, which must be comprehensive and that the government should be committed to implementation.

“There should be available guarantees for the implementation of the national dialogue outputs. The national dialogue, which will take place inside the country, should be after the implementation of confidence-building measures that should be mutually shared, not subject to the manipulation of any party.”

El Mahdi concluded that Mbeki is considering these points with the members of the mechanism to respond to them.