US asks SLM-MM to join Doha talks on Darfur

Dane Smith, the United States’ top official on Darfur, requested the Sudan Liberation Movement faction of Minni Minawi to join the ongoing peace negotiations in Doha.Minni Arko Minawi, head of the movement, told Radio Dabanga that Dane Smith and another official from the US government’s Bureau of African Affairs requested that the movement officially to join the Doha Forum.

According to the rebel leader, he replied that he has pre-conditions for joining the peace talks: the presence of an independent mediator accepted by the parties; a neutral platform for negotiation with international observation; and the declaration of new principles with the participation of all the armed movements in Darfur.

Minawi also revealed that Dane Smith will meet the movement in the coming days to discuss these points.