Khartoum, September 10 (Darfur24)
Sudan’s Dialogue Preparatory Committee said it agreed with the Five-Party Mechanism delegation on the principle of Sudanese-led dialogue and the need for national will to achieve a comprehensive political settlement to the country’s crisis.
Committee spokesman Osman Mirghani told Darfur24 that Wednesday evening’s meeting in Khartoum was “fruitful,” with committee members explaining their mandate and plans and responding to questions from the delegation. The Five-Party Mechanism, he said, pledged to continue cooperating with the committee.
Mirghani said the delegation did not discuss a ceasefire directly, although it asked about the relationship between dialogue, ending the war, and efforts to reach a humanitarian truce.
The Five-Party Mechanism comprises the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the League of Arab States. Its delegation arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday for a two-day visit and held consultations with government officials, political and civil forces and the Dialogue Preparatory Committee.
African Union High-Level Panel on Sudan Chairman Mohamed Ibn Chambas said the visit aimed to connect international efforts with Sudanese initiatives inside the country. He reiterated the mechanism’s position that there is no military solution to the war and that any sustainable political process must include practical measures to protect civilians and halt hostilities.
Mirghani said the committee’s mandate is to create conditions conducive to Sudanese dialogue and that it considers dialogue “the right approach to achieving peace and ending the war.”
He said areas of agreement with the Five-Party Mechanism included the need for a national dialogue addressing the root causes of the crisis rather than its symptoms, as well as broader consultations with different sectors of Sudanese society.
The delegation also asked how the committee could carry out its mandate amid differing positions among civilian forces over how to resolve the crisis and how to achieve a humanitarian truce and end the war, according to Mirghani.
The Dialogue Preparatory Committee was formed on August 30 as an independent national initiative comprising 19 Sudanese figures. It is tasked with conducting preliminary consultations with political, civil and community groups and developing proposals on the dialogue’s conditions, methodology, participation and representation criteria, guarantees and agenda.