Sudanese media awash with presidential pardon for the rebels
Sudanese
newspapers on Wednesday focused on a presidential decree issued on
Tuesday by President Omar al Bashir granting pardon to the rebels to
allow them participate in the national dialogue due to take place in
Khartoum in October.
Sudan Tribune (English) newspaper said that President al-Bashir Tuesday has pardoned rebel leaders who are to participate in the national dialogue conference, and declared a two-month ceasefire in the war areas.
Sudan Tribune (English) newspaper said that President al-Bashir Tuesday has pardoned rebel leaders who are to participate in the national dialogue conference, and declared a two-month ceasefire in the war areas.
According
to the official news agency (SUNA) Tuesday, Bashir issued a
republican decree granting general amnesty for the leaders and
members of the armed movements taking part in the national dialogue
conference. Also, he issued another decree declaring a two-month
ceasefire in the conflict areas.
The
national dialogue conference is scheduled for 20 October 2015.
Several
rebels and their leaders including the Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement/North (SPLM-N) chairman Malik Agar and secretary-general
Yasser Arman had been sentenced to death by Sudanese courts.
The
two decrees come after a pledge al-Bashir made during the opening
session of the national dialogue’s general assembly last August in
which he expressed readiness to declare a two-month ceasefire in
order to hold the dialogue in a healthy atmosphere.
The
Sudanese army has been fighting SPLM-N rebels in South Kordofan and
Blue Nile states since 2011 and the armed movements in Darfur since
2003.
Bashir
launched the national dialogue initiative in January 2014 but the
process suffered major setbacks after the withdrawal of the
opposition National Umma Party (NUP) and the non-participation of the
rebels as well as leftist forces.
Sudan
Vision (English) newspaper has also reported that President Al-Bashir
has officially announced a general amnesty for the Sudanese rebels to
allow them to participate in the dialogue to solve the Sudanese
crisis including the stoppage of the continuous civil war in Darfur,
South Kordoafn and Blue Nile states.
It
is the second time Bashir is announcing a general pardon for the
rebels after the general amnesty he offered last May when he won the
elections boycotted by the civil opposition and the rebels.
The
paper said that President Bashir has issued a presidential decree
that declares a general amnesty for the leaders and members of the
Sudanese armed groups that participate in the national dialogue on
Tuesday.
Alsudani
(Arabic) newspaper stated that the president also issued another
ceasefire decree for two months in the conflict areas in Sudan. He
did not mention at what time this ceasefire would come into effect.
It
is the second time that Al Bashir has declared a two-month cessation
of hostilities in the country. Rebel movements under the banner of
the Sudan Revolutionary Front also announced their readiness to sign
a six-month ceasefire with the government forces and allied
militias.
Neither party has thus far suggested when and where to hold their negotiations about the implementation and monitoring of the ceasefire.
Neither party has thus far suggested when and where to hold their negotiations about the implementation and monitoring of the ceasefire.
The
rebels have decried that the national army is still violating the
ceasefire despite President Bashir’s declaration.
However,
Hurriyat (Arabic) newspaper has quoted the rebel alliance of the
Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) as refusing the presidential
offer, describing it as “Political propaganda”. It quoted the SRF
chairman Malik Agar as rejecting the offer. Agar said that the
current amnesty is concerning the parties who have already agreed to
participate in the dialogue inside Sudan.
“We
have nothing to do with this offer it is just for ‘Political
propaganda’. We call on the government to be serious and come to
the pre-dialogue meeting in Addis Ababa according to the AU roadmap,”
he stressed.
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