Government and opposition ready to talk peace

The Khartoum government is preparing to take part in a peace conference with opposition groups after both sides accepted a joint Egyptian-Libyan proposal designed to end the country’s 18-year civil war. Sudanese newspaper ‘Al-Ra’y al-Amm’ quoted political sources as saying that a preliminary meeting was being arranged between Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir and the leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Muhammad al-Mirghani.

Pagan Amum, secretary-general of the NDA, an umbrella grouping of southern rebels and northern opposition factions, was quoted as telling AFP: “We’ve accepted the initiative. Of course, acceptance means a readiness to go to such a conference.”

At the end of a two-day visit to Khartoum, Egyptian Prime Minister Atif Ubayd on 8 July urged all sides to start work to towards carrying out the plan, and underlined the importance of an immediate ceasefire in the south. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Mahir was quoted by AFP as saying he was already studying “arrangements for holding a conference for reconciliation for Sudan”.

Although the NDA has endorsed the joint Egyptian-Libyan memorandum, it wants to add the principle of self-determination for southerners, AFP reported. For many southern Sudanese, self-determination would be expected to mean effective secession from the north. However, during a visit to the southern town of Juba on 5 July, Bashir was quoted by the government-owned ‘Al-Anba’ newspaper as saying that self-determination would result in a united Sudan and not the secession of southern Sudan.