JEM Declines to Participate in Sudan’s Peace Review Process

Leaders of former Darfur rebel groups Minni Minnawi (L) Gibril Ibrahim (C), participate in the a founding meeting of the FFC National Charter in Khartoum on October 2, 2021. (AFP photo)

January 28, 2023 (KHARTOUM)- Juba agreement signatory groups of the Democratic Bloc declined an invitation by the tripartite facilitation mechanism to participate in a conference to review the peace deal scheduled to take place on January 31.

The Bloc rejects the ongoing political process facilitated by the Trilateral Mechanism and calls to open the framework agreement for negotiations.

Deputy Political Secretary of the Justice and Equality Movement, Mohamed Zakaria, told Sudan Tribune on Saturday that UNITAMS head, Volker Perthes extended an invitation to his movement to participate in the conference to evaluate the peace agreement.

The movement “declined to participate in the conference for several reasons, including that the meeting is being held based on the outcomes of the framework agreement, which the movement rejects.”

JEM and SLM of Minni Minnawi are the two groups that the signatories of the Political  Framework Agreement say they can join them because even if they backed the coup d’état they remain signatories of the Juba peace pact.

For his part, Hassan Ibrahim Fadl JEM Deputy Spokesman stressed they are not concerned with the workshops and meetings organized by the political forces in Khartoum on January 31.

The Juba agreement clearly defined the mechanisms and parties to the evaluation process and those who organize the conference are not parties to the process, Fadl further pointed out.

“These people pretend they want to review the agreement, but in fact, they secretly intend to cancel it. Therefore, we will not tolerate any action targeting the agreement, regardless of its results,” he stressed.

Further, he confirmed they had received an invitation from the South Sudanese mediator for a two-stage workshop in Juba from 10 to 18 February to evaluate the peace implementation process.

According to the invitation extended by the mediation from February 10 to 13, a workshop would be held to determine what has been implemented and what has not been implemented, the obstacles that hindered the implementation process, and how to address this.

This first round will involve the government, the chief negotiators of the various signatories and the mediation.

During the second phase, the parties would consider the findings of the first meeting and endorse a new implementation matrix for the peace agreement.

This week, the FFC leaders held a series of meetings in Juba with the South Sudanese senior officials including President Salva Kiir. But they failed to dissuade the South Sudanese mediators from adjourning this meeting.

(ST)