Bashir says peace process has reached “crossroads”

Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir said on 29 June that the government would set up a “national peace assembly” to review the current state of the peace process in the country, Sudanese television reported. In an address to the nation marking the 12th anniversary of his seizure of power, Bashir said efforts to bring peace to Sudan were “at a crossroads”, and that a Sudanese peace assembly would work to develop a peace plan “from inside the country”. The assembly would also advise the government on how best to deal with the recent joint Egyptian-Libyan proposal, and the separate process sponsored by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) since 1993, he said.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian-Libyan initiative was given backing at a meeting in Cairo of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), an umbrella organisation for the southern rebels and northern opposition groups. NDA spokesman Hatim al-Sirr Ali was quoted by AFP as saying that the plan’s principles had been “unanimously approved”, but that some groups had called for it to be extended to cover two further issues. NDA representative Pagan Amum told AFP some delegates had insisted that the initiative be amended to include the principles of self-determination for Sudanese and the separation of state and religion. Included in the memorandum was a provision for “setting up a national transition government, with the participation of all parties”, Ali was quoted as saying. The NDA also called for the unification of the Egyptian-Libyan and the IGAD initiatives.