Sudan government and holdout groups to resume talks on Wednesday

October 11, 2020 (Nyamilepedia) – The Sudanese government and the Sudan People Liberation Movement North(SPLM-N) under the leadership of Abdel Aziz al-Hilu will resume talks next Wednesday, October 14, 2020 in Juba, South Sudan.

In a press briefing extended to Nyamilepedia today, a senior member of the SPLM-North, Mohamed Youssef al-Mustafa, confirmed that the talks will resume on October 14, 2020 and they will focus on separation of the state from religion..

“Experts will review the principle of separation in multi-belief societies, in addition to studying the models of Muslim-majority countries that separate between the state and religion, such as Tunisia, Malaysia and Turkey,” Mohamed Youssef said.

Mohamed reiterated that the core purpose of these talks will be to ensure that the parties understand and acknowledge the important of seperating the state and the religion.

al-Mustafa further added that the first rounds of talks will be informal but later on the parties will proceed with more formal deliberation on the outstanding issues that include security arrangements, decentralization of powers, development, identity and humanitarian needs, among others.

South Sudanese mediators under the leadership of Chief Mediator Tut Gatluak Manime and Dr. Dhieu Mathok travelled to Khartoum earlier today to invite the parties to Wednesday sessions.

According to Dr. Dhieu Mathok, their visit aims to discuse the resumption of peace talks between the government and the holdout groups.

The SPLM-North initially pulled out from the peace talks citing their rejection of the Vice-Chairman of the Sovereign Council, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, popularly known as “Hemetti”, for his previous roles in Darfur crises; however, the leader of the SPLM-North met Hemetti in Juba on Thursday October 8th, 2020 to iron out their differences.

The Thursday meeting between Hemmeti and al-Hilu seems to have reconciled the two parties and that called for the next meetings which will be “informal”.

The SPLM-North leader and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok signed Declaration of Principles on September 3rd, last month, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Declaration of Principle outlined these items that will be tabled from Wednesday but the leaders agreed on holding workshops first to address the separation of religion and state.

Sudanese leaders comprising of the Civilian-led Transitional Government, the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minawi and Sudanese Alliance signed a comprehensive peace agreement on October 3, 2020 in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.

Two main opposition parties, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North/Abdelaziz al-Hilu and the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid Al Nur did not sign the document.

It is not clear if the SLM al-Nur will attend the next peace talks next week, however, he is strongly encouraged by the region and the TROIKA to come to table.

“We call on the Sudan Liberation Movement/Abdulwahid Al Nur and the Government of Sudan to begin talks to achieve a comprehensive peace involving all the major armed movements.” The statement continued.