Sudan Appeal sees ‘positive points in AUHIP roadmap’

The members of the Sudan Appeal, who participated in a meeting in Addis Ababa with the United States envoy, announced their willingness to conditionally sign the peace roadmap with the Sudanese government. “There are positive points in the roadmap.”

On Sunday the Sudan Appeal members announced to send a memorandum of understanding to the African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki, which reveals their willingness to be part of the roadmap conditionally.

On 19 March, Chief Mediator Thabo Mbeki of the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) presented the Sudanese government, three holdout rebel movements and the National Umma Party (NUP) in Addis Ababa the text of a roadmap. It stated the accords to be agreed on: breaking the deadlock on the peace negotiations on Sudan's areas of conflict, and ensuring the opposition’s participation in the National Dialogue.

The opposition refused to sign after it accused the AUHIP of siding with Khartoum.

Jibril Ibrahim, the head of the Justice and Equality Movement, told Radio Dabanga that the memorandum of understanding sent to Mbeki represents a summary of what was agreed upon in Addis Ababa among the parties of the Sudan Appeal, including the armed movements, the political parties and the civil society organisations.

'Acknowledging the positive points in the roadmap is the most important feature of our memorandum.'

Ibrahim said that in the event of adopting and signing of the memorandum, “the way will be paved for signing the roadmap, and then proceeding to negotiations on the outstanding issues, including the cessation of hostilities”.

“There are positive points in the roadmap,” Omar Yousif El Degair, the president of the Sudanese Congress Party, told this station. “[Acknowledging this] is the most important feature of the memorandum.”

On Sunday, he said that their memo pointed out that a comprehensive political solution requires to begin with the preparatory conference, to be held in Addis Ababa, where they can discuss the “preparatory matters”. “Such as the chairmanship and the agenda of the dialogue.”

El Degair pointed out that the preparatory meeting also requires the creation of conducive dialogue conditions. “This means the release of detainees and prisoners and freezing the dialogue's restrictive laws.”

Last Thursday and Friday, the JEM, Sudan Liberation Movement under the leadership of Minni Minawi (SLM-MM), and the National Umma Party of El Sadig El Mahdi held a consultative meeting with US special envoy Donald Booth, to discuss the roadmap and the outputs of the last meeting in Doha with the Qatari mediator and head of Unamid, among others.