Sudan closes doors on opposition groups

Says there will be no more negotiations about Darfur with non-signatory factions The Sudanese government declared on Sunday that there would be no further negotiations with Darfuri armed opposition groups that have failed to sign the Doha peace agreement.Dr Amin Hassan Omar, minister of state at the President’s office for the implementation of the Darfur Peace Process, said that the armed movements who have not signed the Doha agreement will not be welcome to negotiate any more. He added that they were invited to sign the document if they wished but there would be no further negotiations. Opposition groups reactThe Darfuri armed opposition groups viewed this move of the government as declaration of war. Armed opposition groups such as the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minnawi (SLA-MM) and Abdel Wahid (SLA-AW), Sudan Liberation Movement for Justice (Kerubino), said that the government’s stand to close the doors for negotiations meant declaration of war. The armed groups refused to acknowledge peace as an option and said that their goal now was to secure the downfall of the regime.Abdullah Murshal, spokesperson of the SLA-MM, called on all marginalized forces to combine their efforts in bringing down the regime in Khartoum.Meanwhile, the JEM ridiculed the government’s announcement of prosecution of the opposition leaders. The Sudanese government has allegedly issued prosecution orders for armed opposition leaders via Interpol terming them as terrorists.Ahmed Hussein Adam, advisor to the president of JEM for external relations, told Radio Dabanga that the “terrorists” who are wanted internationally are the leaders of the regime. “It is well known that the regime is in the list of international sponsors of terrorism. This is known globally and President Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for committing genocide in Darfur,” he said.The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against President Omar al-Bashir in 2009 for committing war crimes in Darfur.Ahmed Hussein Adam further stressed that the armed opposition movements had all been fighting for a just cause.