LJM delegation to meet in Khartoum next week

Aim to discuss implementation of Doha agreement; JEM steps out of negotiation process
A delegation of the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), will meet in Khartoum between August 15 and 20, LJM spokesperson Ahmed Fadel told Radio Dabanga on Friday.The 19-member delegation, headed by LJM-Vice President Ahmed Abdul Shafi Toba, will meet to prepare for the implementation of the Doha agreement, which the LJM signed with the government on July 14.

Fadel explained to Radio Dabanga that the delegation will hold preliminary consultations with the government regarding the application of the terms of agreement, such as the necessary preparations for the arrival of LJM-leader Tijani Sese and his troops at the Sudanese capital next month.

The Doha Peace agreement was signed last July after several months of negotiations between the government and rebel forces.

The document aims to restore peace in the much-troubled region of Darfur, where 300,000 individuals are estimated to have died since 2003.

However, many people have since expressed concerns about the ordeal, citing that the LJM, which represents only a small part of Sudan’s rebel movements, is the only group to have signed the agreement so far.

Although the remaining movements were granted three months to join the agreement, none of them have complied so far.

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which had previously expressed the need for further consultations with the government before joining, finally rejected it due to the impossibility to reach an entente on negotiating terms with the latter.

JEM to step out

JEM-spokesperson Jibril Bilal told Radio Dabanga on Friday that the movement had decided to definitively step out of the process.

The other rebel groups, including the SLM Abdelwahid al-Nour and Mini Minawi factions, have so-far stayed out of the debate.

Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir warned last month that no negotiations would be made with any rebel group or international party after the signing, and that any conflict attempts passed the joining deadline would be severely reprimanded.