Sudan rebels reject junta-opposition political agreement

The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), a coalition of Sudanese armed movements, has declared its categorical rejection of the political agreement signed between the ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC, formerly known as the Alliance for Freedom and Change) on Wednesday.

Jibril Ibrahim, head of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), told a joint press conference in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa that the SRF was surprised by the signing of the agreement while they were still meeting with representatives of the FFC and discussing their approach to reach a document.

He said that the signing of the agreement “fatally hit the dialogue in Addis”. He pointed out that the political agreement does not include all members of FFC.

He asked the parties to seriously consider the reservations and not to sign the Constitutional Declaration until after the meeting of the FFC has concluded. The text should include issues of marginalisation, just peace, issues of displaced persons and refugees, and of diversity in the transitional authority, and restructuring of the state and citizenship, and the inclusion of women and youth.

The SRF expressed readiness to sit with the parties of the FFC to deal with the challenges ahead.

Ibrahim pointed out that the dialogue in Addis Ababa addressed a number of issues, including the formation of an effective leadership body for the FFC.

Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM)

The head of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM), Minni Minawi, said that the agreement went beyond the basic issues and considered it unacceptable and called for stopping what is going on inside until the completion of the document.

He said that the SRF had called on its partners in FFC to postpone the signing of the agreement until the completion of the dialogue in Addis and to include its results, but it rejected it.

Head of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM), Minni Minawi (File photo)

He explained that the agreement, which was signed is not adequate and Sudan will not emerge from the impasse, saying that what is required is not the transfer of power from military to civilian, but the removal of the causes and root causes of the crisis that led to to genocide and the secession of the South Sudan.

Minawi explained that the parties to the agreement deliberately ignored these issues.

The SRF is still dealing with its partners with an open mind, calling for leadership to be wise, he said.

Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North

Malik Agar, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction in Blue Nile said that the political agreement disregarded the ongoing dialogue between FFC and the SRF, did not address the issues of war and peace and the civil war that has besieged Sudan for decades.

Malik Agar, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction in Blue Nile (File photo)

Yesterday, Malik Agar told a joint news conference of the SRF members in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa “The current situation is the last chance for Sudan to be and not be”.

He said that the circulated statement about the SRF's demands in mind had previously led to the secession of South Sudan and warned of the dire consequences of ignoring peace issues.

Sudan Call

Osman Hussein, head of the displaced and refugees’ delegation to the Sudan Call (a coalition of the SRF, opposition parties and civil society organisations) said that the agreement ignored the issues of displaced people and holding accountable the perpetrators of rape, murder and occupation of land.

He stressed at the press conference that they will not be part of an agreement that does not guarantee the return of refugees and displaced people to their places of origin.

He pointed to the arrest of displaced people from the beginning of the revolution, the latest of which included 28 people in Gireida, he demanded their release.

Communist Party of Sudan

In Khartoum, the Communist Party of Sudan announced its rejection of the political agreement signed between the military junta and the FFC on Wednesday morning.

The party said in a statement that the agreement ignored the decisions of the African Union supported by the European Union, the Troika, the US Congress and the United Nations, which called for full civilian leadership of the transitional government and building on what has previously been agreed upon.

The statement pointed out that the agreement was also devoted to the dominance of the military coup junta over all the details of the state in contradiction to the principle of building on what was done in the previous agreement.

In addition, the agreement also ignored the dismantling of the regime, the accountability of its corrupt figures, the recovery of the looted property and property of the people, as well as the dissolution of all militias outside the armed forces in accordance with security arrangements in the interim period.

Darfur Bar Association

In Khartoum, the Darfur Bar Association played down the political agreement signed on Wednesday morning between the military junta and the FFC.

Yesterday, the Darfur lawyers said in a statement that the agreement signed has the fundamental defects will be announced by the Association later. The association that it is “deeply concerned about leaving the fate of the country to some of the affiliates of the Sudanese Professional Association” and others of the FFC who lack proper understanding of the fateful issues of the homeland.

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