The Sudanese government has confirmed its willingness to negotiate with the rebel group, SPLM-North, according to the head of the negotiation committee.

Ibrahim Ghandour claimed: “We are ready to sit at the negotiation table and negotiate with the northern sector and we are waiting for the time when dialogue will start.”

Addressing journalists at a press conference at the Sudanese Workers’ Union in Khartoum on Sunday, he said that his committee is ready to enagage with the SPLM-N and that President Bashir is expected to meet his vice president, Ali Osman, in order to appoint a final negotiation team.

Any negotiations will be under the umbrella of the African Union (AU), he claimed before adding that there would be no room for interventions from other spheres.

“We have contacted the African Union mediators and confirmed our full readiness for the start of dialogue, which we hope will bring peace to Sudan”

Zeinab Mahmoud, a spokesperson for the SPLM-N delegation also affirmed the readiness of their group to enter into dialogue with Khartoum but questioned the integrity of the government’s intentions towards negotiation.

Mahmoud told Radio Tamazuj that the SPLM-N responded to the mediators’ call before the Sudanese government and had even sent a delegation to an agreed point in order to begin the negotiations.  However, she claims that the mediators reported that Khartoum were unwilling to enter into discussions with the group at that time.

“Readiness is to be present at the negotiation venue,” she added.

The SPLM/A-N have been fighting the government in South Kordofan state since 2011 and in Blue Nile state since 2012.  The South Sudanese government recently confirmed that they no longer support the SPLM/A-N following the implementation in March of an earlier peace agreement.

File photo: Parliament building in Khartoum