Sudan peace talks close to agreement – eastern track to be rediscussed

Sovereign Council member Mohamed El Faki announced yesterday that the government and the armed rebel movements are close to reaching a peace agreement. Eastern Sudanese urge an internal re-discussion of the eastern track accord.

Rebel leader Mohamed Bashir told reporters in Khartoum that a comprehensive peace agreement will be signed in the near future.

The National Consensus Forces (NCF – a coalition of progressive political parties) said that the agreement with the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebel alliance on power-sharing “represents a huge breakthrough that paves the way for a comprehensive peace that accommodates all those advocating for peace, and those affected by the war”.

In a statement on Sunday, the NCF stressed “the importance of the participation of all stakeholders in the transitional government after reaching a peace agreement”. Representatives of the leadership council of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) should take part in the ongoing dialogue with the rebel movements about the composition of the Legislative Council.

Last week, the government and the armed movements agreed to replace three or four federal ministers and two members of the Sovereign Council in favour of the rebels.

Eastern Sudan track

A committee was established on Sunday to re-discuss the eastern Sudan track of the peace negotiations internally “to resolve the disputes resulting from a lack of coordination and consultation on the track,” eastern Sudanese Nazir Mohamed Tirik said in a press statement in Khartoum.

The decision to form this committee was made by Sovereign Council member Lt Gen Shamseldin Kabashi, Hadendawa Nazir Mohamed Tirik, and Mousa Mohamed Ahmed, head of the Eastern Front, who had a meeting at the Republican Palace in Khartoum yesterday.

The committee will include members of the Sovereign Council, the Council of Ministers, the Forces for Freedom and Change, the Higher Council of Eastern Sudanese Nazirs, political parties, and factions of the Beja Congress.

“The committee is to lay the foundations that will push the peace process in eastern Sudan in the right direction, by building a consensus between all stakeholders in the east. It will ensure peace and stability in the country in general, and in eastern Sudan in particular,” Nazir Tirik said.

An agreement on the eastern Sudan track was reached in February.

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