President Bashir: deadline for Darfur peace is today

Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir warned on Wednesday that the government would withdraw from the Darfur peace process in Doha if agreement is not reached by the end of the day on Thursday. After that, the Sudanese government will only hold talks within Darfur itself, and not abroad, he warned.The ultimatum came at a rally yesterday in Nyala. “If we reach an agreement tomorrow, praise be to God. But if there is no agreement, we will withdraw our negotiating team and the talks will then be held in Darfur,” said Al Bashir in a speech televised on state television.

For its part, the Liberation and Justice Movement led by Dr. Tijani Sese responded that it is not concerned with the date set by Al Bashir. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, the movement spokesman Abdullah Mursal said that their concern now is winning concessions from the government on the questions of the vice presidency for Darfur and the re-unification of the three states of Darfur into a single region. He said they are also concerned about the terms on individual compensation and security arrangments. As of yesterday, the parties had not reached agreement on these issues.

The spokesman of Khalil Ibrahim’s Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) spoke vehemently against the deadline set by Al Bashir. Ahmed Hussein Adam said the announcement yesterday reveals that Bashir does not want a negotiated solution. He described the ultimatum as a way to block the way to any peaceful solution. He stressed that Bashir bears responsibility for this and will pay the price. He reiterated accusations of genocide against Al Bashir.