Sudanese President extends ceasefire across conflict zones

Sudanese President

He told the concluding session of Sudan’s national dialogue conference in Khartoum that “I declare the extension of ceasefire until the end of the current year in all conflict areas.”

Al-Bashir, who was handed the national document of the dialogue, which was approved by the conference, vowed to implement all the recommendations upon which the participants have agreed.

He said he would consult with all political forces in the country to form a mechanism to implement the national document and build a strategy to reform state institutions.

He added that he would also set up a comprehensive national mechanism to formulate a permanent constitution.

The presidents of Egypt, Mauritania, Uganda and Chad attended the dialogue’s closing session.

Report says the dialogue’s final national document covers principles of rule, public freedoms, identity, peace, unity, economy and external relations.

It would be the base for the country’s permanent constitution.

In January 2014, al-Bashir declared an initiative calling on the opposition parties and the armed groups to join a national dialogue to end the country’s crises.

The sessions of the dialogue kicked off in October 2015 in a bid to resolve the country’s political and social issues, with the participation of a number of Sudanese political parties, civil society organisations and some Darfur armed groups.

However, major political parties and armed movements refused to participate in the conference, including the Revolutionary Front Alliance, which brings together the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector and major Darfur armed movements.

Darfur armed groups and the SPLM/northern sector insists that a preparatory conference should be held, according to decisions of the African Union Peace and Security Council and the United Nations Security Council.

They also insisted on bringing together all the Sudanese political forces to agree on procedures to initiate an equitable dialogue with the government, a demand that the Sudanese government rejects.