UN proposal for peace talks between Sudan govt. and SPLM-N

The UN Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, Haile Menkerios, has a proposal to rescue the talks between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).

The AU High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) had to suspend the 10th round of peace negotiations on the Two Areas (South Kordofan and Blue Nile states) on 24 November, after both parties adhered to their positions on the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The government delegation, led by Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, insisted on arranging aid for the population of the Two Areas on Sudanese territory, while the SPLM-N delegation, headed by Yasir Arman, proposed the provision of humanitarian aid through two routes, via Sudan and Ethiopia.

In early December, AUHIP chairman Thabo Mbeki announced “informal talks” to be held this month “aiming at reaching understandings on pending issues”.

A Sudanese official told Sudan Tribune on Saturday that UN Envoy Menkerios arrived in Khartoum to meet President Al Bashir and convey to him a proposal aiming to break the deadlock.

“The UN compromise proposal is related to the humanitarian cessation of hostilities in the Two Areas,” the source said.

One week ago, a group of international and Sudanese organisations and individuals wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US President Barack Obama about the delay of humanitarian aid to the war-affected areas in Sudan.

The more than 100 signatories request “safe, unhindered and immediate access of the United Nations and other humanitarian personnel to deliver equipment and supplies and to assist conflict-affected civilian populations” in Sudan, underlining that the refusal of humanitarian access constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.