Sudanese parties call for 'reconciliation' talks

The Secretary General of the Council of National Unity in Sudan, Aboud Jaber, has said that the organisation is in talks with political parties to reach consensus on issues of national importance. "The meetings will include the leader of the Democratic Unionist party allied with the government, Mohamed Osman, the leader of the Umma Party and former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, and other Sudanese parties," he said. Jaber said in a statement to Arabstoday: "The meetings will be followed by a national reconciliation conference to adopt a central document, and place it as a national pact mandating everyone in their dealings and national actions." "The association will not exclude any party, regardless of its positions in the current government and the opportunities of agreement that seem to exist between Sudanese movements," he added. "It is expected that the majority of the parties will agree to the summit as long as national work is the motivation", said Jaber, adding:"A lot of the Sudanese parties, including the opposition, have reasonable positions on many important issues." "Challenges require cooperation from everyone to establish the pillars of the state, and transition the people of Sudan towards full stability," he stated. The opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP), led by Dr Hassan al-Turabi, said he would not refuse to participate in any attempt to achieve reconciliation. Al-Turabi's deputy, Dr Abdullah Hassan Ahmed said: ”National reconciliation is required in the current circumstances in Sudan. However, participation requires knowledge of the proposals submitted by the Sudanese parties association, to see if they are consistent with the objectives and programme of the party concerned, if they party can deal with other parties or not. " "The PCP will clearly announce its position when it receives proposals written in an official document," he said. Umma Party member Hassan Imam said: “Sudan faces security and economic challenges, our party participates in all attempts to address them." Umma leader Al-Mahdi was apparently invited to convene a peace conference, to which Imam said such attempts should be "allowed to succeed".