Sudan Prime Minister to negotiate with armed movements in Juba

Sudan Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdouk said he was optimistic that peace in Sudan can be achieved. In an interview with the BBC Hamdouk said yesterday that he will go to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, on Thursday to negotiate with the leaders of the armed movements. He considers these armed movements as a part of the Forces for Freedom and Change.

The prime minister will be accompanied by the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Trade and Industry, and Energy and Mining. It will be Hamdouk’s first visit abroad since he became prime minister. He will return to Khartoum on Friday.

Sovereign Council member and commander of the government militia Rapid Support Forces Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’ already is in Juba to negotiate with the armed movements.

Hamdouk denied during the BBC interview that the investigation into the victims of the break-up of the sit-in in front of the army command in Khartoum on June 3 has been forgotten.

He said that a committee will be formed to investigate these events and attributed the delay to a difference in the interpretation of some items in the Constitutional Document.

Ten priorities

Yesterday, the Cabinet, in its first meeting headed by Hamdouk, set ten priorities for the first 200 days, including stopping the war and bringing peace, addressing the economic crisis, and the formation of an independent investigation committee into the break-up of the sit-in in front of the army command on June 3.

Minister of Culture and Information Faisel Mohamed Saleh said in a press statement after the meeting that the priorities also include abolishing laws restricting freedoms, guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary and achieving justice, taking measures for the active participation of youth and women, reforming that state structures and reviewing governance structures.

Schools and universities

He explained that the prime minister directed that schools have to be provided with basic necessities as textbooks, desks and chairs, pointing out that no books arrived in East Darfur yet. He also directed an urgent meeting between the Ministry of Education and all bodies and institutions involved on the resumption of study at the universities.

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