Sudan: PM Hamdok meets French President Macron and Darfur war SLA rebel Abdelwahid Nur in France

NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: Here is news of a 30 Sep 2019 meeting between Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Mr Abdelwahid Nur, leader of Darfur war rebel group Sudanese Liberation Army. Mr Nur helped lead the SLA, one of two rebel groups (the other was JEM) that started the Darfur war in 2003 costing 300,000-400,000 Darfuri lives and unimaginable pain and suffering for millions of others. 

The meeting took place in France where, for the past 15 years Mr Nur has sheltered, enjoyed good food, beer and five star hotels. Nur, now aged 50, led and directed the Darfur war by satellite phone from the comfort and safety of an armchair in Paris, France where he still lives in self imposed exile. He fled to France soon after the Darfur war. He is too scared to return to Darfur and face the dwindling support of 'his people'.

In my view he is an arrogant self-serving dim-wit who spouts nonsense and has delusions of becoming president of Sudan. He once set up an office in Israel. He is infuriating. So is France's interest in Chad and the Sudans oil. See 2005 report 'South Sudan: French energy giant Total in oil talks with SPLM/A over White Nile' https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2005/03/south-sudan-french-energy-giant-total.html. 

Photo: Darfur rebel Abdelwahid Nur, leader of Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA-AW) 

Credit: Sudan Tribune.com report 31 Aug 2019 ‘SLM’s al-Nur calls for referendum on Sudan’s transitional authority before peace talks’

News report from MSN.com

By Agence France-Presse (AFP) - www.afp.com

Published: Tuesday 01 October 2019

Title: Sudan PM meets Darfur rebel chief in 'essential' step to peace: Macron

Sudan's prime minister has met a senior Darfur rebel leader living in France, President Emmanuel Macron said Monday, hailing an "essential step" for peace in the troubled east African nation.

Photo: © Bertrand GUAY Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok visited French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace

"We facilitated talks that Prime Minister (Abdalla) Hamdok had yesterday with Abdulwahid Nur, who is in our country," Macron said at a press conference with Hamdok after discussions in Paris.

"I think the step taken yesterday is an essential step," he added. "The Sudanese deserve to finally live in peace and security."

Nur, who is exiled in France, leads the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA/AW), which does not recognise Hamdok's government, which is tasked with leading the country's transition to civilian rule.

Hamdok said that his meeting with Nur, which he had expected to last 30 minutes, went on for nearly three hours and involved "very profound exchanges".

"We discussed the roots of the Sudanese crisis and possibilities for a solution and... we are going to lay the first stones for this edifice of peace," he said.

Sudan's western region of Darfur fell into widespread conflict in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government of Omar al-Bashir, who was toppled in April this year.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the years-long conflict in Darfur and more than two million displaced, according to the United Nations.

"I accepted to meet the new prime minister not as a prime minister, but as a political figure" in the new political landscape, Nur told AFP on Monday.

"There is no peace, there is no accountability, there is no free press -- the killing in Darfur, in the Nuba mountains, in the Blue Nile is continuing," he said.

"All of us we want to sit together in a partnership country, in a partnership of equal citizenship rights, to identify all together what are the problems of Sudan and what is the solution," he said.

However Nur, 50, stressed that "we are not recognising the military council and we are not recognising the new government".

Hamdok's visit to France was his first to Europe as prime minister, and comes after France's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Khartoum earlier this month.

Macron reiterated Monday that France was ready to help rebuild Sudan's economy, announcing a 15 million euro ($16.3 million) aid package and plans for a donors' conference in the coming weeks.

View original: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sudan-pm-meets-darfur-rebel-chief-in-essential-step-to-peace-macron/ar-AAI4z6Y

Sudan: Abdel Wahid al-Nur, leader of Darfur rebel group SLM-AW, calls for referendum before peace talks

NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: Abdel Wahid al-Nur, leader of Darfur rebel group SLM-AW, is an idiotic coward. Shortly after helping to start the Darfur war in 2003 he fled to France where he still lives comfortably in self-imposed exile. While hiding in France, he sat in a Paris hotel armchair directing the Darfur war by satellite phone. The war killed 300,000-400,000 Darfuris. His nonsensical talks are breathtaking.

News report by Sudan Tribune.com

Published Saturday 31 August 2019

SLM’s al-Nur calls for referendum on Sudan’s transitional authority before peace talks

August 30, 2019 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) has called for an internationally monitored referenda on the transitional constitution and the representation of its cosignatories before to engage in peace talks.

Four months after the ouster of former President Omer al-Bashir last April, the SLM-AW for the first time and in a statement written in English made public its response to the calls from various Sudanese political forces to lay down arms and to join a national process for peace during the first six months of the transitional period.

The holdout group in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune voiced its rejection of the Political Agreement and the Constitutional Declaration signed by the Transitional Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), describing it "as patently illegitimate and exclusionary".

"The accord reached between the TMC and FFC is simply another new variant of a civilian rubber stamp for the soldiers, paramilitaries, secret policemen," said the statement to explain the group’s rebuke for the process.

Since last April, there were several contacts by various political FFC groups with the SLM leader in a bide to persuade the group to negotiate a lasting peace agreement after the regime change.

During the era of the Islamist regime, the SLM had only participated in the Abuja process in 2006. Since the group asks to repair the consequences of the conflict and disband the government militia accused of war crimes before to negotiate a deal addressing the root causes of the conflict.

In his nine-page statement, emailed to Sudan Tribune, al-Nur set what he called "terms and condition for conflict resolution dialogue".

"We call for preparations for a national plebiscite to be undertaken immediately for a free and transparent vote under international observation, to take place sixty days from now," he further said.

He added that Sudanese should answer by yes or no to three questions.

The first question: asks the Sudanese if they approve "the continuation of the interim government under the terms the Constitutional Declaration; the second: complete withdrawal of the militaries from the transitional authority institutions; the third: do they approve a full and immediate return to civilian rule.

The armed group went further to propose to hold elections within 90 days after the referendum on the national level. Once the national elections are conducted, regional elections for state governors will take place 60 days after.

In a briefing to the Security Council on 26 August, Jean Pierre Lacroix said the intermittent clashes continue in Jebel Marra between the Sudanese army backed by the Rapid Support Forces and the SLM fighters.

In his position paper, al-Nur added 13 other conditions before the referenda including the full withdrawal of the army and government militias from Darfur region, al-Bashir’s transfer to the International Criminal court, and release of prisoners of war and conscience.

In addition, the paper reintroduced the SLM-Aw demands for disbanding of militias, land restoration to its owners and compensation for the war-affected civilians.

President Salva Kiir has called on al-Nur to come to Juba and join consultations meetings his government is holding with the other armed groups in preparations for peace talks with the government headed by Abdallah Hamdok.

The South Sudanese initiative aims at bringing the divided armed groups to establish a one negotiating paper before to meet the Sudanese government.

Juba also consults with Sudan’s neighbouring countries particularly Egypt and Chad and seeks to involve them in this demarche.

Egypt expressed willingness to host Sudan’s peace process. (ST)

View original:  http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article68030

Sudan: Darfur rebel group SLM-AW absent from peace talks

News report from China News.org.cn - Xinhua

Published: 11 September 2019

Title: Sudan's ruling council, armed groups closer to reaching peace deal

KHARTOUM, SUDAN September 10, 2019 (Xinhua) - Sudan's ruling Sovereign Council on Tuesday announced that it is closer to reaching a comprehensive peace deal with the armed groups during the talks in South Sudan's capital Juba.

"The two parties to Juba talks have agreed on most of the outstanding issues between them," said the council in a press release.

South Sudan is currently hosting talks between Sudan's Sovereign Council and leaders of armed groups in Sudan's Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions, under a mediation initiative by South Sudan's President Salva Kiir Mayardit.

"The two parties have embarked on serious discussions that addressed the root causes of the problem, where the talks lasted for two days in Juba," South Sudan president's adviser Tut Galwak was quoted as saying.

Mohamed Hamdan Daqlu [aka "Hemeti"], deputy chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council, is leading the council's negotiating delegation to the talks with the Sudanese armed groups.

Sudan's newly-formed government, led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, has listed realization of peace in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile as a top priority.

Mayardit proposed an initiative to mediate between the new-born Sudanese government and the Sudanese armed groups.

Two armed groups from Sudan's Darfur region, including Sudan's Justice and Equality Movement, led by Jibril Ibrahim, and the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Minni Minnawi, are taking part in the talks, while the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul-Wahid Mohamed Nur is absent from the talks.

Sudan People's Liberation Movement(SPLM)/Army-Northern sector, led by Malik Agar, active in Blue Nile, and the SPLM/northern sector, led by Abdel-Aziz Al-Hilu, active in South Kordofan, are also participating in the talks.  Enditem

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View original:  http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2019-09/11/content_75193880.htm

Deluded SLM leader Abdelwahid El Nur will continue to fight for "his people" until he becomes president

Note from Sudan Watch Editor: It is difficult to believe that Abdelwahid El Nur is still commenting on his Darfur war from Paris, France.  How has he made his living during the past 16 years, I wonder.  Why does he not live in Sudan?  Perhaps he is afraid he no longer has the support of the Darfuris.  In my view, he sold out many years ago while seated safely in a Paris hotel directing the Darfur war from a satellite phone. 

Nothing he ever says makes much sense to me. In this article he is quoted as saying his Sudan Liberation Movement “will adhere to the revolution until a radical change takes place and a real civilian authority is established”.  I guess he means, when all is done in 3 years, and the way is clear and safe for him to return. Coward.

Article from Radio Dabanga.org

Dated 09 August 9 2019 - PARIS

Abdelwahid El Nur: ‘Sudan junta, opposition kidnapped the revolution’

SLM leader Abdelwahid El Nur (File photo)

The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) will not recognise the accords reached between the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC). According to SLM leader Abdelwahid, the agreements only legitimise the power of the junta.

The Darfur armed movement led by El Nur does not recognise the agreements. “They are just power-sharing deals between remnants of the former regime and forces that kidnapped the revolution from the youth,” the rebel leader said in an interview with Radio Dabanga.

“The junta is just an extension of the ousted regime of Omar Al Bashir, responsible for the killing of people in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, Kajbar, and all over Sudan.  

“The janjaweed militia, now called Rapid Support Forces, that committed crimes against the people of Darfur, are still committing the same crimes, now in the entire country.”

El Nur further said he does not have confidence in the Forces for Freedom and Change. “The group was formed only after the people revolted. The members are the same bodies that used to negotiate with the old regime.

“As a result, the slogan of the revolution 'Just fall, that’s all' disappeared. The FFC opted for legitimising the members of the junta and its militias, and now considers them partners in the revolution.”

Agreements

After negotiations brokered by the African Union, the TMC and the pro-democracy movement signed a basic power-sharing Political Charter on July 17. A week ago, the two parties agreed on the Constitutional Declaration, which outlines the powers and the relationships between the branches of the interim government.

The constitutional document, to be officially signed on August 17, will mark the beginning of the interim period led by a civilian government for three years and three months, after which elections will be held.

A Sovereign Council, consisting of 11 members, will rule the country. Five members will be from the military, five will be civilians. The 11th member will be civilian, to be selected by both parties. For the first 21 months, the president will be from the military, followed by a civilian for 18 months.

The 250-pages-long Constitutional Declaration approves the procedural immunity of the members of the Sovereign Council and the rulers of the states, abolishes the laws and texts restricting freedoms, and stipulates the liquidation of the former regime.

‘Radical change’

El Nur said his Sudan Liberation Movement “will adhere to the revolution until a radical change takes place and a real civilian authority is established”.

He explained that continuing with armed struggle is not the movement's option at this stage. “The SLM-AW will depend on popular struggle as an opposition tool, together with the Sudanese people, in order to reach this end, summarised in Just fall, that’s all.”

According to the SLM-AW leader, “The Sudanese people who forced Al Bashir to disappear from the scene are able to overthrow the junta and all other forces that hijacked the revolution in the name of the people, and pave the way for a state based on equal citizenship”.

The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF, a coalition of the armed movements) reached an agreement with the FFC on the peace process in Sudan in the Ethiopian capital on July 25. The SLM-AW is no part of the SRF anymore. The movement withdrew when the coalition opted for a peaceful solution instead of continuing the armed struggle. El Nur says he will only join peace negotiations after Khartoum has restored stability and security in Darfur.

Serious doubts

In his op-ed published by Radio Dabanga on August 7, Prof Eric Reeves, expresses his concerns on issues that have not been addressed in the Constitutional Declaration.

“The first, and most frequent, is that far too much power has been left in the hands of the military, now a hybrid military, with both the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) nominally under the command of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. [..]

“The second criticism, voiced in various forms, is that the fundamental economic issues in Sudan—a nation struggling under the burden of an economy that has largely collapsed—are nowhere addressed with any specificity,” the well-known Sudan researcher and analyst states.

SOURCE: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/abdelwahid-el-nur-sudan-junta-opposition-kidnapped-the-revolution