Sudanese president pardons armed groups leaders, members

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Monday issued two presidential decrees pardoning leaders and members of armed groups all over the country if they agree to participate in the national dialogue, official SUNA news agency reported.

A number of rebel leaders, top of them Yasir Arman and Malik Aqar of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector, are facing judicial rulings on charges, some of which amount to death penalty.

The two decrees came in affirmation of what al-Bashir has announced at the meeting of the general assembly of the national dialogue on Aug. 20, when the president expressed the government's readiness to declare a ceasefire for two months so that the national dialogue could be conducted in a healthy atmosphere.

In January 2014, al-Bashir declared an initiative calling on the opposition parties and the armed groups to join a national dialogue to end the country's crises.

Al-Bashir's invitation found a relative acceptance from political forces, but the process faced difficulties that slowed it down.

The armed movements in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions rejected to join the dialogue, insisting that a parallel forum should be established under the supervision of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel. Endit