Sudan’s rebels conclude consultations with AU panel

At the conclusion of their consultation meeting in Addis Ababa today, the AU High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) team and the leaders of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) agreed to continue their dialogue. They will meet again in the Ethiopian capital mid-October, in conjunction with the resumption of the negotiations between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-N). Minni Minawi, head of the Sudan Liberation Movement  (SLM-MM), and co-deputy president of the SRF, an alliance of the main rebel movements which includes the SPLM-N, told Radio Dabanga from Addis Ababa today (Thursday) that the AUHIP-SRF meetings this week were attended by representatives of the UN, Unamid, and the EU. In the meetings that started on Monday, “all issues related to the crises in Sudan were discussed. We agreed to meet again in mid-October for consultations about the stoppage of the hostilities and a cease-fire.” Peace talks The SLM leader noted that the SRF leaders agreed on the resumption of the peace talks between the SPLM-N and the Sudanese government, concerning the ongoing war in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile. “The SRF will be consulted in these negotiations. Representatives of SLM-MM, the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Abdel Wahid El Nur (SLM-AW), and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) will attend the SPLM-N-government negotiations,” Minawi said. 7+7 Committee Regarding the meeting with the envoys of the National Dialogue 7+7 Committee from Khartoum, Minawi said that a small SRF delegation met with them on Thursday afternoon. “We briefed Dr Ghazi Salaheldin El Atabani, chairman of the Reform Now Movement, and Ahmed Saad Omar, Minister at the Presidency and prominent member of the mainstream Democratic Unionist Party, about the Paris Declaration. Both leaders, however, discussed the matters as representatives of their parties, not as members of the 7+7 committee.” Paris Declaration On Friday, El Sadig El Mahdi, chairman of the National Umma Party had briefed the AUHIP mediators in Addis Ababa on the contents of the Paris Declaration, signed by the SRF and the NUP on 8 August in the French capital. Minawi said that El Mahdi and the SRF leaders this week agreed to establish a joint SRF-NUP mechanism to “implement the contents of the Paris Declaration on the ground”. “The meeting with El Mahdi was very fruitful, and confirmed that the Paris Declaration was the right step, and that both parties have made great progress.” NISS Meanwhile in Khartoum, Siddig Yousef, a senior leader of the National Consensus Forces (NCF, a coalition of Sudanese opposition parties), was prevented by security agents from travelling to Addis Ababa early this morning. At Khartoum airport, he was told that his name appeared on the list of Sudanese prohibited to exit the country. The NCF called the action “a blatant form of the absurd bullying of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS)”. Mohamed Diyaa, head of the NCF Media Committee, told Radio Dabanga that “such behaviour not only complicates matters, but also exposes the regime’s dictatorial way of dealing with matters. The logic of the Khartoum regime is the use of force wrapped in an alleged dialogue.” He stressed that “the NCF, together with our allies, will continue to expose the atrocities of the Khartoum regime, and mobilise the people for a broad popular uprising, in order to sweep these dictators, and establish a real democracy in Sudan.” File photo: The opening session of the AUHIP-RSF meetings on Sunday (Radio Dabanga) Related: Sudan rebels meet with AU panel, UN Special Envoy in Addis Ababa (2 September 2014) Umma Party deputy head denied exit from Sudan (6 August 2014)Opposition to ‘fully cooperate’ with rebels for democratic Sudan (14 November 2013)