Sudan govt: ‘Peace negotiations almost concluded’

According to the timetable set by the South Sudanese mediation team, the Sudanese government and the armed rebel movements should have signed a peace agreement on Saturday. This proved not feasible.

Mohamed El Taayshi, member of the Sovereign Council and spokesman for the government delegation at the negotiations, said that the peace process is ‘proceeding seriously to complete all of its files in order to reach a permanent, sustainable, fair and comprehensive peace agreement’.

He stressed that the negotiations are now ‘in its final stages’. “Technical files and security arrangements are to be transformed into a final agreement,” he said. Signing the peace accord on June 20 was not possible ‘because these issues need to be addressed wisely, without hurting what has previously been agreed upon’.

He claimed that the negotiations have resolved ‘more than 95 percent of the complex issues’. “The remaining files require courageous and decisive decisions, and direct negotiation between the parties in Juba.” Arrangements are being made to make this possible. During the last months the peace talks took place via video conferencing.

During the preparations for the negotiations in September last year, the parties pledged to end the talks before December 14, 2019.

The direct peace talks started in Juba on October 14 last year. The deadline was later set at February 14, and then again at March 7.

On May 17, the South Sudanese mediation team announced that the first documents of the peace agreement would be signed on June 20.

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