Sudan’s National Consensus Forces support El Mahdi

The National Consensus Forces (NCF), an alliance of Sudanese opposition parties, support National Umma Party leader Sadig El Mahdi in his condemnation of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). El Mahdi was arrested yesterday evening, being charged of defamation, and the violation of public peace. About two weeks ago, El Mahdi had strongly denounced the RSF, commanded by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), and accused the government militias of committing war crimes, rapes, and the looting and burning of villages in Darfur, in addition to recruiting non-Sudanese nationals, and operating beyond the scope of the regular armed troops. In reaction, the NISS accused the Umma Party leader of “disrespecting the prestige of the state, discrediting the regular armed forces, inciting the international community against Sudan”, and the spreading of false news, “causing unrest among the regular troops, and breaching public peace”. Siddig Yousif (82), a member of the Sudanese Communists’ Central Bureau, and the spokesman for the NCF, told Radio Dabanga on Friday that “El Mahdi being charged for defamation in this respect is a bad omen”. “The atrocities carried out by the RSF militias during the last months in Darfur are well known to anybody who follows news on Sudan”. “Even Ahmed Haroun, the Governor of North Kordofan State, and himself a war criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court, had expelled the RSF from the state in February this year. The militias then were sent to Darfur where they began to attack villages in the rural areas of in particular South and North Darfur. And after all this, the government charges El Mahdi. They should charge themselves, as they are responsible for the mass displacement and the destruction of hundreds of villages at the hands of the RSF Janjaweed.” AUHIP visitOn Saturday, NCF representatives would meet with members of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), chaired by former South African president Thabo Mbeki. The AUHIP mediators are visiting Sudan to gauge possible solutions for the stalled peace negotiations on the war-torn states of the Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The NCF and AUHIP would discuss NCF’s position on the National Dialogue, proposed by President Al Bashir, and the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue, Yousif explained. “NCF’s position on the National Dialogue is known. We shall explain the reasons for our initial rejection, and the conditions that must be met concerning freedom of speech, and other freedoms, before we will consider participation.” “As for the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue, planned to be convened at the end of this month, we see this as quite premature. There has to be security in Darfur first. The widespread violence against the population should stop, and the Janjaweed militias be disarmed. If security is realised in Darfur, the people can safely move around, and conditions for democracy are laid, then a Darfur-Darfur dialogue can take place.” File photo: National Consensus Forces’ spokesman, Siddig Yousif (thesundaily.my) Related:Umma Party to organise protest in Sudan after arrest of its leader (18 May 2014) Opposition sceptical as Sudan security announces release of political detainees (10 April 2014) $3 million for withdrawal of North Kordofan’s Janjaweed (14 February 2014)