The Sudanese government has agreed to stop a military offensive in Darfur province in a move that could prompt the two main rebel groups to end their boycott of African Union-sponsored peace talks, the chief AU mediator said on Wednesday.
”The government of Sudan has given an undertaking that it has agreed to stop the current military attack [in Darfur] and we have indicated to them that we shall try to verify that information so that we can resume the talks in the full session,” said AU chief mediator Sam Ibok.
”If we verify the information and we find out that it is accurate, then it should pave the way for full discussion on the political issue,” he told journalists after his team met with the Khartoum official delegation to the talks.
Sudan government spokesperson Ibrahim Mohammed said: ”In the meeting, we assured them that we contacted Khartoum, we do agree to stop the military action.”
At the same time, the rebels should stop their attacks ”because our duty and responsibility as a government is to defend all our people”, he added.
Ahmed Tugod, spokesperson for one of the two main armed rebel groups at the Abuja talks, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), said earlier: ”We are ready to continue with these talks if the Sudan government withdraws the troops immediately from where they are now to their original position.”
The JEM and the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement on Monday walked out of the latest bid in Abuja to resolve the Darfur conflict, accusing Khartoum of repeated ceasefire violations.
Since the rebels’ walkout, the AU mediators have been holding separate meetings with both sides in an attempt to convince the rebels to return to the negotiation table. — Sapa-AFP