Sudan hopeful of reaching peace with rebels as negotiations resume in Juba

Sudan has said it remains hopeful of reaching a peaceful settlement of the decades-long conflict with various rebel groups as talks resumed in Juba on Thursday evening.

Mohamed Al-Hassan Al-Taishi, member of the Sudan Sovereign Council, told journalists in Juba that his team hopes to have peaceful talks with various rebel groups in the South Sudanese capital, despite tribal clashes in West Darfur on Sunday that left five killed and eight people injured in El-Geneina area.

“We have advanced talks with all the various rebel groups. We have already held talks with rebel groups from Darfur and on Friday we will engage with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North of Malik Agar,” Al-Taishi said.

The Sudanese parties resumed talks on Thursday after breaking off for the festive season. The talks being mediated by South Sudan started on Oct. 14 last year.

Dhieu Mathok Diing, member of the South Sudan mediation team, expressed optimism that the Sudan Sovereign Council will finally reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict with the opposition.

“The Sudanese rebel groups have agreed to reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict, unlike past negotiations with the former regime that took eight years,” said Mathok, a reference to the leadership under former President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir.

El Hadi Idris, leader of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), the umbrella group of the opposition, expressed regret over the recent tribal clashes between the Masaleet tribe and the Arab tribe in El-Geneina, adding that investigations must be underway to bring the perpetrators to face the law.

“We regret what happened in El-Geneina in Darfur and it needs not to happen again. We demand investigations to bring to justice those behind the attack,” said Idris, who leads the Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council in Darfur.

Several rebel groups negotiating with the current government in Khartoum fought against the administration of Omar Al-Bashir, who was ousted last year. Enditem