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Sudan's al-Bashir says national dialogue document still open to opposing parties

Xinhua, October 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on Tuesday said a national dialogue document that was approved on Monday would be open to the opposition parties that did not sign it.

Al-Bashir made the comments at a popular rally in Khartoum, which was attended by thousands of citizens to celebrate the conclusion of the national dialogue conference and the approval of the national document.

He urged the parties rejecting the dialogue to join the political process, saying "the document will remain open if they are willing to sign it."

"The parties rejecting the dialogue have now become enemies of the Sudanese people. If they come for peace, they will become part of us, and if they reject, we will get to them where they are and confront them," he said.

Sudan's national dialogue conference on Monday approved a final document after one year of deliberations.

The final document, covering principles of rules, public freedom, identity, peace, unity, economy and foreign relations, will provide the base for the country's permanent constitution.

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.

The sessions of the dialogue kicked off in October 2015, with the participation of a number of Sudanese political parties, civil society organizations and some Darfur armed groups.

However, major political parties and armed movements, including the Revolutionary Front Alliance, which brings together the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector and major Darfur armed movements, refused to participate in the conference.

Darfur armed groups and the SPLM/northern sector insist that a preparatory conference should be held, according to decisions of the African Union Peace and Security Council and the United Nations Security Council, to bring together all the Sudanese political forces to agree on procedures to initiate an equitable dialogue with the government, a demand that the Sudanese government rejects. Endit