Peace talks on Sudan’s Two Areas postponed

The peace negotiations on South Kordofan and Blue Nile have been postponed from 12 October to a date after 25 October. Presidential Assistant and head of the government delegation for the peace negotiations with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), Ibrahim Ghandour, announced that the peace talks have been postponed. Ghandour told the press on Sunday that the government delegation received an official invitation from Thabo Mbeki, the chairman of the AU High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), for a new round of negotiations with the SPLM-N in the Ethiopian capital. However, several government officials are still on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Others are busy with the preparations for the general convention of the ruling National Congress Party that will be convened between 20 and 25 October, and during which a NCP presidential candidate will be chosen  for the April 2015 general elections. The members of the National Dialogue mechanism will meet immediately after Eid El Adha, the presidential assistant added. President Al Bashir will invite all the parties that consented to the dialogue for a large meeting soon too. In April the peace negotiations on the Two Areas, convened under auspices of the AUHIP, collapsed, owing to the considerably divergent positions of the two warring parties. The government delegation refused SPLM-N’s proposal of a temporary ceasefire, with the aim to facilitate relief in the regions, and insisted instead on a definite cessation of hostilities. The rebels kept to their stance that such a definite ceasefire requires a broad political agreement. File photo: Dr Ibrahim Ghandour Related: Resumed peace talks between Sudan government and SPLM-N collapse (24 April 2014)