Sudanese foes to initial peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan’s government and two major rebel groupings have initialed eight documents in Juba, South Sudan, paving the way for signing a final agreement Monday, an official source said here Sunday.
The Darfur Track and the Revolutionary National Front Track on the one hand, and the government delegation, on the other hand, concluded the deal.
The parties will sign the deal in full on Monday in the presence of Sudan’s Prime Minister Dr Abdalla Hamdouk.
The Darfur track groups almost all rebel groups from Darfur to the exception of Abdul Wahid Mohamed Nour, self-exiled in Paris, France, while the Revolutionary National Front groups the Blue Nile Area and the Sudan liberation Front/Army rebels, formerly part of the movement that helped South Sudan separate and get its independence from the Sudan in 2011.
When South Sudan separated in 2011, three main areas remained in rebellion in the Sudan, including Darfur region, the Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains.
In Darfur, there were dozens of rebel movements, splinters of two groups: The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul Wahid Nour, and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Khalil Ibrahim, killed shortly after his forces attacked the national capital Khartoum in 2008.
The Blue Nile region, miserably impoverished and underdeveloped region in the Sudan, is adjacent to Ethiopia.
It remained in rebellion under Commander Malik Agar, a relentless rebel leader who has now become part of the Revolutionary Front grouping.
The third region is that of South Kordufan’s Nuba Mountain, South West of Khartoum, a mineral and natural resources rich region near the border with South Sudan.
The Leader of the rebellion there is Commander Abdul Azia Al Hilou, who did not join the current initialing of the agreement.
His movement is negotiating with the government under South Kordufan Track. His demand was clear: either the Federal Government dissects any link between state and religion or his region would opt for separation, and ultimately independence like South Sudan.
Ironically Helo, 66, is himself a Muslim but almost half the population of South Kordufan’s Nuba population are believers of African religions or Christians. Thus his dossier and track was left apart by the facilitators.
Since 2011, under western facilitation, the successive federal governments have been holding talks, to no tangible results, with these movements, particularly the Darfur movements.
This time the facilitation was provided by the government of South Sudan, the country that separated from the Sudan the same year and under the blessing and support of the African Union.
The process was not easy because it has come to this stage following “long meetings that continued days and nights for months, since September last year“, according to Sudanese Prime Minister Hamdouk who travelled to Juba, capital of South Sudan, to witness the signing between the government representatives and leaders of the two tracks.
-0- PANA MO/RA 30Aug2020
