Sudan govt., rebels blame each other for failure of Berlin negotiations

The government, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) exchanged accusations following the failure of the Berlin negotiation round as they broke up without any agreement in the German capital on Tuesday.

Both sides blamed each other for the collapse of the round.

The head of the SLM Arko Minni Minnawi said that “the failure of the round was caused by the intransigence of the government delegation and its provocative rhetoric”.

He said that “during the round, the government delegation suggested to the movements to join the Doha Document, which died and was buried in El Fasher in the presence of the Emir of Qatar and the President of Chad”.

He explained that the two movements put forward in Berlin an agreement from the Doha Document and came with a good intention to make the negotiation successful, “but the intransigence of the government delegation caused this failure”.

He expressed concern over the mediation’s change of the positions and the negotiating paper in Berlin under pressure from the Sudanese government.

Minnawi said that the mediation tried during the round to pressure on the two movements.

JEM

The JEM blamed the government delegation for the failure of the Berlin negotiations and accused it of intransigence and hardening of positions.

JEM leader Dr Jibril Ibrahim said that the government delegation insisted in Berlin to accommodate the two movements into the Doha Document.

He described the statements by the President of the AU Security and Peace Council that the Berlin negotiations is the last chance for the movements to join the peace process in Darfur as unsuccessful in terms of content and timing.

He said that these statements gave negative signals to the government delegation which led it harden in its positions and failure of the round.

He said they agreed to participate in negotiations to end the suffering of displaced people and refugees in the camps and other citizens.

He declared their categorical rejection of bilateral deals and agreements.

The government delegation participating in the Berlin negotiations attributed not reaching agreement to the insistence of the movements to impose some conditions before the negotiations.

Government

Dr Amin Hassan Omar, representative of the Presidency of the Republic for the diplomatic contact and negotiation of Darfur peace, said that the mediators exerted great efforts that came in more than one form.

He explained that the two movements insisted before any agreement with them to establish mechanisms for independent implementation as well as insisting on the establishment of independent commissions or institutions which already existed in the Doha agreement which means breaking the agreement.

He described the movements as lacking readiness to go on the path of peace with its requirements.

Dr Omar confirmed at the opening session Sudan's commitment to building peace based on the Doha Peace Document in Darfur which is linked with dialogue on the Constitution and preparing the legal framework for the elections in 2020