Sudan pledges guarantees for armed groups' participation in national dialogue
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E-mail Xinhua, January 28, 2015
Sudan's government Tuesday offered guarantees for the armed rebel groups to secure their participation in national dialogue.
Thabo Mbeki, Head of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP), held talks Tuesday with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum.
Mbeki told reporters after the talks that he received assurances from al-Bashir that if negotiations on freezing hostilities continue, the armed movements would participate in national dialogue, and receive the necessary guarantees for their representatives.
He added that the president expressed the importance of ending the war in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile areas to attain peace and tackle humanitarian issues through dialogue.
Mbeki said the armed movements should be part of the national dialogue, stressing the importance of ending the conflict in these areas.
Mbeki arrived in Khartoum last Saturday on an official visit to Sudan to discuss the two negotiation files between the Sudanese government and the Sudanese Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector.
Khartoum has been fighting with armed groups in Sudan's Darfur region since 2003 and with the rebels of the SPLM/northern sector at the South Kordofan and Blue Nile areas since 2011.
Nine rounds of negotiations between the government and the SPLM/northern sector have failed to reach a peaceful settlement.
In January 2014, al-Bashir launched the national dialogue initiative. However, it faced difficulties as major opposition parties, including the National Umma Party and the armed movements, refused to participate.
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