National Consensus Urges to Stop Saudi-U.S. Brokered Talks over Sudanese Crisis

Minni Minnawi speaks during a meeting with Saudi ambassador Ali bin Hasan Jaafar on June 24, 2022

June 24, 2022 (KHARTOUM)

The National Consensus groups Friday urged the Saudi Ambassador in Sudan to stop his joint efforts with U.S. diplomats to hold separate talks between the country’s main rivals over the ongoing political crisis in Sudan.

The armed groups that backed the military coup have voiced their opposition to the separate discussions brokered by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa and Saudi Ambassador in Khartoum between the military component and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC).

The joint initiative aimed to bring the two parties to agree on procedures and groups eligible to participate in the intra-Sudanese dialogue facilitated by the Trilateral Mechanism.

However, the partners of the military component denounced the meetings saying it aims to restore the power-sharing deal between the FFC and the military component agreed upon in the 2019 Constitution Declaration.

In a meeting held with Saudi Ambassador Ali bin Hassan Jaafar, the National Consensus called to support the facilitators of the African Union, IGAD and UNITAMS to end the political crisis in Sudan.

“We discussed the intra-Sudanese dialogue and agreed that it should be held under the auspice of the trilateral mechanism,” said the National Consensus Secretary-General Mubarak Ardol in statements after the meeting with Jaafar.

“The Saudi Ambassador stressed that they do not seek to establish a new platform or mediation but bridge the gaps (between the two rivals) without affecting the path of the dialogue process,” Ardol added.

The SLM leader  Minni Minnawi on Thursday met with the ambassadors of the Troika countries upon their request to discuss his criticism of the joint Saudi – U.S.intitaive  after a meeting with the African ambassadors to Sudan on June 21.

After the meeting, Minnawi said he told the three envoys that the National Consensus wants broad participation of the Sudanese political forces and not the FFC-military coalition.

He added they cannot trust the outcome of the general election with a government led by “small political groups”.

He warned that the armed groups should not be overlooked because the “non-neutralization of the weapons” means missing the necessary stability for a civilian government.

He went further to say there is a need for mutual recognition in Sudan.

“We have to keep in mind the separation of South Sudan,” he added.

Minnawi now has the largest armed group in Darfur. During the Juba peace process, he broke away from his allies in the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) because the other armed groups managed to marginalize his positions during the talks.

Previously, the SRF armed groups disagreed with the FFC groups as the political revolutionary groups declined their demand for a greater part of the power in the transitional period.

At the time, the FFC groups said that SLM-MM, JEM of Gibril Ibrahim, and GSLF of Tahir Hajar are not representative of the western Sudan region because the three groups emanate from one ethnic group, while they consider bringing the SLM of Abdel Wahid al-Nur who represents the largest ethnic group in Darfur.

(ST)