Sudan Appeal ‘expected to sign AUHIP roadmap’

Meetings between the Sudan Appeal forces and the African Union mediation team (AUHIP) have been scheduled for next week in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to further discuss the signing of the roadmap agreed upon by both sides.

Omar El Digeir, the president of Sudanese Congress Party, said in an interview with Radio Dabanga that on Tuesday, the Sudan Appeal forces were invited to attend the meetings in Addis Ababa.

He explained that the Sudan Appeal delegates are now making arrangements to travel to the Ethiopian capital, where they will begin by meeting with the AUHIP Chairman, former South African President Thabo Mbeki, to discuss the points demanded by Sudan Appeal forces.

El Digeir said that the meetings will continue from 8 to 10 August.

He said that if the result of the meetings is positive, the Sudan Appeal will sign the roadmap.

Dr Mohamed El Mahdi Hassan, the head of the political bureau of the National Umma Party, confirmed that “the signing of the roadmap will occur on 8 or 9 August.

On Tuesday, Hassan told Radio Dabanga that all arrangements and understandings have been completed between the parties the informal negotiations that preceded these meetings. He said the delegation of the National Umma Party, headed by El Sadig El Mahdi, will be arriving in Addis on 7 August.

Sudanese government

The Sudanese government has also confirmed that its delegation “will participate in a meeting with a group of the Sudanese opposition parties on 9 and 10 August in Addis Ababa at by invitation of AUHIP”.

In remarks to reporters, Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, the Assistant to President Omar Al Bashir, predicted that the opposition parties will accept the roadmap, which will later result in a ceasefire and humanitarian aid to the citizens.

Hamid said that once the rest of the parties have signed the roadmap, “meetings will be held to negotiate the cessation of hostilities, declaration of a comprehensive ceasefire, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and the completion of the Framework Agreement in accordance with the proposal that has been discussed since 2011 and agreed upon by nearly 90 per cent”.

Roadmap

The AUHIP roadmap is the result of a meeting held in Addis in March this year. The agreement, prepared by the AU chief mediator, Thabo Mbeki, is designed to end the armed conflicts in Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan, and move towards the National Dialogue.

The government delegation and the chief mediator signed the document in March, but the opposition have thus far refused, insisting that several issues including security and ending the conflict in the region.

Progress was made to bring the parties closer together during meetings in Paris last month.

International leaders including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, The ‘Troika’ of Norway, the United Kingdom and the USA, and AU Commission Chairwoman Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma have called on the opposition to sign the roadmap to hasten the resolution of the conflict that has ravaged the country for years.