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Sudanese govt agrees to share power
with rebels
By Onyekachi Eze
senior
reporter,
Abuja
The Sudanese Government might consider
power-sharing arrangement with the rebel groups in the crisis-ridden Darfur
region even as the peace talks that resumed in Abuja after one month suspension
has suffered another temporary setback after only two day’s negotiations.
The disagreement was over the procedure
for the adopted agenda by the African Union (AU) negotiators. The parties
hurriedly adjourned Tuesday’s session, which was expected to kick-off
negotiations on the political aspect of the peace meeting after only 15 minutes
of closed door discussions.
The rebel groups have consistently refused
to sign the protocol on the agreements reached during the first round of the
Abuja peace-talks, which ended over a month ago in a deadlock. The protocols
are on the humanitarian and security aspects of the crisis.
Head of delegation of Justice and Equity
Movement (JEM), one of the rebel groups, Ahmed Tugod, said the rebel side would
prefer that this round of the peace-talks addressed the political issue before
going back to the unfinished negotiations regarding security.
“We are not refusing to sign the
protocol, we are saying that we are going to sign it together with the security
protocol. Even if we feel the government is not willing to solve this problem,
we are not going to reach a deadlock. We are genuinely willing to go
immediately to the political issues and we’ll come back later to the
pending issues on security,” Tugod said.
Before the peace talks was adjourned for
one month, the negotiators deliberated only on the inconclusive humanitarian
and the lingering security issue out of the four-point agenda listed for
discussion at the parley leaving the political, economic and social problems
apart from the of the people in the crisis-ridden Darfur region. Spokesman of
the Sudanese Government delegation, Mohammed Ibrahim said the government had
already worked out a formula for sharing political power and resources with the
two rebel groups - the JEM and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army
(SLM/A), adding that a federal system of government had been adopted for the
country.
He said under the adopted federal system
Darfur would enjoy the same status as the states in the Southern Sudan.
“There’s no problem at all,
we’ve decided already. We’ve drawn out the parameter for that; how
to share wealth and how to share power and we already adopted the federal
system. “
Under the federal system, it’s
obvious Darfur is part of Northern Sudan. It’s not part of Southern
Sudan. All that is available in Southern Sudan states will be enjoyed by
Darfur. So, there’s no problem,” Ibrahim added.
An estimated 50,000 people are believed to
have died and about one million displaced in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan,
creating a serious humanitarian crisis in the area.
The peace meeting was shifted to this
morning to give room for more consultations.
The Chairperson of
the peace meeting, Ahmed Al-Ghabid however met with the Sudanese Government
team to continue discussions on the security issue.
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