Sudan negotiator, Darfur mediator agree to hold talks with Tripoli rebel groups

July 3, 2009 (PARIS) — Ghazi Salah Eddin Attabani, Sudan’s top negotiator for Doha peace talks and Djibril Bassolé, the AU-UN Mediator for Darfur agreed to begin talks with a group of rebel groups.
A group of Darfur rebel movements called Tripoli group, in reference to a common ground agreement they signed last March in the Libyan capital, agreed last week to participate in the Doha peace talks and met with the joint mediator to inform him about their decision.
Ghazi and Bassolé held a meeting on Wednesday July 1 on the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Sirte, Libya where they discussed the peace process and the outcome of a recent meeting between the mediator and rebel groups in Tripoli two days earlier.
The two sides agreed that Khartoum should hold talks with the other rebel movements and to include them in the Doha peace talks. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) is currently the only rebel group taking part in the Qatari sponsored negotiations.
The AU-UN and Sudanese officials agreed that the talks with Tropoli groups should tackle substantive issues relating to the conflict of Darfur and to keep the door open for negotiations with JEM.
During a meeting with rebel groups in Tripoli on July 29, Bassolé encouraged them to negotiate a framework agreement whose final objective is to define the contents and modalities of the final and inclusive peace talks.
The mediator also had told the rebel groups he would propose a date for a consultation meeting with the Sudanese government.
The Darfur groups that would meet the Sudanese government in the upcoming days are: Sudan Liberation Movement – Unity led by Abdallah Yahya, the SLM led by Khamis Abdallah Abakr, the SLM – Juba faction, the Justice and Equality Movement- Azraq faction and the United Resistance Front of Bahar Idriss Abu Garda.
JEM rebels who reject any talks before the implementation of the Doha goodwill and confidence building agreement are expected to meet the government delegation in August.
(ST)