Bashir calls for national reconciliation talks

President Omar al-Bashir called on Thursday for a national reconciliation conference to end Sudan’s civil war. In a speech to mark the 11th anniversary of the coup that brought him to power, Bashir said preparations would begin next month for the convening of such a conference. He said the Sudan government would continue to work through the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) talks and through the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative “to achieve a just, peaceful solution which meets the demands of the southerners for a just participation in power and distribution of resources”, the official Sudanese news agency (SUNA) reported.

The realisation of peace in the country would, he said, remain the first objective of the government. Bashir pledged to set up a development and rehabilitation fund with resources from oil revenues, supported by the federal government and regional and international bodies, to rebuild war-damaged parts of the country and consolidate peace and development.