Umma Party criticizes SAF stance on Geneva talks
Pro-army group dismisses basis for rejection of US-led process
Sudan's Umma Party on Friday slammed the army's decision to skip U.S.-Saudi-led peace talks in Geneva, calling it a “significant diplomatic failure” that could jeopardize efforts to end the country's war. The party, a vocal supporter of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since fighting erupted in April last year, is led by Mubarak al-Mahdi.
The United States announced late last month it would mediate talks between the SAF and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The negotiations in Switzerland aim to secure a ceasefire and humanitarian access, seen as essential steps towards a political process to end the country's devastating civil war.
Sudan's acting information minister, Graham Abdelqader, announced on Friday last week that the SAF-led government would not participate in the upcoming peace talks in Geneva. The decision came after the breakdown of preparatory talks between U.S. mediators and a Sudanese delegation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Abdelqader said the government would stick to last year’s Jeddah Agreement as the sole basis for peace talks. The agreement included several declarations of principles and was never implemented by either side.
The minister blamed the decision to skip the Geneva conference on the U.S. insistence on including the United Arab Emirates as an observer, a condition the government rejects. Abdelqader also accused the U.S. of failing to secure the RSF commitment to implementing the Jeddah agreement.
In a statement, Umma Party’s head of Political Bureau Ibrahim Shalaih Hibani disagreed with this objection, saying the UAE's presence was crucial to ensure that the RSF adhered to the Jeddah Agreement and any subsequent deals. He highlighted the UAE's influence over the RSF and argued that its involvement could help curb arms supplies to the paramilitary and noted that both the government and the military had previously engaged with the UAE in undisclosed talks in Bahrain and Oman.
“The Umma Party believes that the presence of the United Arab Emirates as an observer in the Geneva negotiations is crucial for the success of the talks and the implementation of the Jeddah Agreement, given its clear influence on the Rapid Support Forces and its support for them. The importance of their presence lies in discussing the cessation of supplies to the militia and pressuring them to implement the Jeddah Agreement. The government and the army have previously accepted roles for the UAE, as it participated in undisclosed talks held a few months ago in Manama, Bahrain, and in other consultations in Muscat, Oman, between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces,” it said.
The Umma Party accused the SAF of underestimating the importance of the Geneva talks, which involve key international players including the United Nations, African Union, and Egypt. The party stressed the crucial role of these parties in enforcing the Jeddah Agreement and halting RSF attacks on civilians.
The Umma Party dismissed the government's claim that the U.S. failed to justify moving the peace talks from Jeddah to Geneva. It argued that the Geneva forum was a natural progression of the Jeddah process, jointly initiated by Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
“The transition from Jeddah to Geneva is an international elevation of the level of concern about the war in Sudan and its impact on the humanitarian situation, after the war expanded and the militia’s violations against citizens increased, leading to the displacement of millions of citizens from Darfur, Kordofan, Gezira, and Sennar states, and the cessation of agricultural activity, which caused food shortages and price hikes,” it said.
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