Security bans political event addressed by Sudan’s PCP
The PCP, which is not willing to participate in the ‘pre-dialogue’ meeting between the government and opposition in Ethiopia this Sunday, says the ban “undermines freedom”.
A political symposium to be addressed by Mohamed Diaeldin and an official of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) in Khartoum, was banned by the security apparatus. The move is not consistent with the desired political climate for the National Dialogue, the PCP said.
The symposium was planned at the Omdurman Islamic University on Thursday. Kamal Omar, the political secretary of the PCP, commented that the next phase of the National Dialogue requires concessions to create conducive conditions for the dialogue to be held. He added that the banning by the security service undermines freedom and leads the country into endless losses.
The PCP announced that it will not participate in the 'pre-dialogue' meeting between the Sudan Revolutionary Front and the National Umma Party with the Sudanese government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Sunday and Monday. It claimed that the issues to be raised at the conference have already been discussed in Sudan.
Also the seven opposition parties that already participate in the National Dialogue's coordination mechanism, known as '7+7', issued a joint statement in which they refuse to participate in the meeting because they believe it paves the way for foreign intervention in the process.
Invitations
However, Minister of Information Ahmed Bilal Osman said that the 7+7 Commitee is ready for the negotiations on the procedural matters with regards to the National Dialogue, if they would be invited by the African Union (AU) mediators, in an interview with Radio Tamazuj yesterday. He claimed that they did not receive an invitation.
The conference will be brokered by the AU's High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). The AU has also passed invitations to five Sudanese academics, representatives of the native administrations, and Sufis to participate in the conference, among them Dr El Tayeb Zein El Abdeen, El Tayeb Haj Attia, Dr Mansour Khalid, and founder of El Ayam newspaper, Mahjoub Mohamed Saleh.
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