Port Sudan , July 27(Darfur 24)A spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Arko Minawi expected the Geneva negotiations to fail if the joint force does not participate, stressing that the seriousness of efforts to stop the war requires hearing the opinions of all parties.
America has extended an invitation to the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to participate in negotiations hosted by Switzerland, in which Saudi Arabia will be a co-host, under the supervision of the United Nations, the African Union, the Emirates and Egypt.
In a statement obtained by “Darfur 24”, the spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Movement, Al-Sadiq Ali Al-Nour, called on the US State Department to expedite the invitations to the “joint force so that the invitation includes all parties to the war, otherwise this meeting will be nothing but an exercise of protocols that are neither fattening nor satiating.”
He continued: “The seriousness in stopping the war is hearing the opinions of all parties to the conflict.”
Al-Nour pointed out that the Joint Forces are considered one of the “main parties participating and even influencing the war. We were surprised by this deliberate exclusion by the US State Department, which is completely unacceptable.”
He expected that the Geneva talks would not lead to “anything in the absence of known parties present at the heart of the battles and who have made all possible sacrifices, thousands of martyrs, wounded and missing.”
The Joint Force, which includes the Sudan Liberation Movement, the Justice and Equality Movement, and parties from the Sudan Liberation Forces Gathering and the Sudan Liberation Movement – Transitional Council, is participating in the fighting alongside the army against the Rapid Support Forces.
The spokesman denounced the call for negotiations between the army and the Rapid Support Forces that rebelled against the state.
He continued: “It was incumbent upon all regional and international parties seeking to stop the war and establish peace to extend the invitation to the Sudanese government representing the state, not the army, if America, the United Nations or the African Union recognize the legitimacy of the government and the state of Sudan. The facilitator and mediator must recognize the Sudanese state and its various institutions.”
He added: “We have the right as armed struggle movements that were forced and written to enter this war. Whenever there is an opportunity for negotiation, the army alone should not be invited, but rather it should include a wide range of participants in this war.” The Sudan Liberation Movement warned against the parties exploiting the humanitarian issue in Sudan as an entry point to fragment solutions and prolong the war in order to break national sovereignty.