No power-sharing deals with Ummah

Meanwhile, President Omar al-Bashir said that no power-sharing agreement had been signed with the opposition Ummah Party. In an interview to al-Jazeera TV, Bashir said dialogue with the Ummah Party was on-going but that a number of issues had to be tackled. Leader of the opposition Ummah Party, former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, recently returned to Sudan, saying he would participate in the national peace process.

But Bashir confirmed that no agreement had been signed with the Ummah Party constituting participation in government - as had previous been reported in some of the local and international press. He said that it was not possible to “wait for the return of the opposition abroad indefinitely”, said the official Suna news agency on 24 December. Efforts continued to reach agreement with opposition parties, and to establish a dialogue with the southern-based Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), SUNA said.