Agreement to Speed Up Formation of Sudan’s Transitional Government

A protest in Khartoum to speed up the formation of Sudan’s transitional government. Sudanese Professionals Association
A protest in Khartoum to speed up the formation of Sudan’s transitional government. Sudanese Professionals Association
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Agreement to Speed Up Formation of Sudan’s Transitional Government

A protest in Khartoum to speed up the formation of Sudan’s transitional government. Sudanese Professionals Association
A protest in Khartoum to speed up the formation of Sudan’s transitional government. Sudanese Professionals Association

Sudanese protest leaders and their rebel partners have ended their differences over a power-sharing deal signed with the country's military rulers after around two weeks of consultations held in Addis Ababa.

"This agreement has discussed the fundamental roots of war... and aims to reach a comprehensive peace accord with all armed groups," said the Sudanese Professionals Association, which spearheaded the campaign against president Omar al-Bashir.

"The agreement paves the way for establishing comprehensive peace urgently once the transitional process for a civilian government begins," it said on its Facebook page on Thursday.

The SPA said the "Addis Ababa Declaration" aims to "speed up the formation of the transitional civilian government".

It said the three armed groups in the Sudan Revolutionary Front have "reconciled with the Alliance for Freedom and Change on the transitional government and connected peace-related issues with the process of transition".

On July 17, the Sudanese Professionals Association signed a power-sharing accord with Sudan's ruling generals that provides for a transitional civilian administration following Bashir’s ouster.

But three armed groups who are members of the protest movement had objected to the deal, saying it failed to address conflicts in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

A group of protest leaders then flew to Addis Ababa for talks with the rebels, and after days of intense negotiations, they reached the agreement that was announced on Thursday.

The rebel groups confirmed that their differences with the protest leaders had been resolved.



Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”