The Sudanese government and umbrella opposition grouping met in Cairo to discuss the political future of Sudan, writes Gamal Nkrumah The Sudanese government and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the umbrella grouping of mainly northern opposition parties and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) met in Cairo last week. Nafie Ali Nafie, Sudan's Minister of Federalism headed the government side, and Retired General Abdul-Rahman Said led the NDA delegation at the meeting. This is not the first time Sudanese government and opposition groups meet abroad. But the seven- day meeting which ended on Tuesday in Cairo might in retrospect be considered a turning point for Sudan's political future. "We had a frank and serious talk with the government," General Said told reporters after the meeting. "An air of openness prevailed. The two parties agreed that the terms of reference of the talks would be based on the Jeddah framework agreement and the Naivasha peace framework agreement," Farouk Abu Eissa, former Sudanese foreign minister and former head of the Cairo-based Arab Lawyers Union told Al-Ahram Weekly. The Jeddah agreement was signed by Sudanese Vice President Ali Othman Mohamed Taha and the NDA Chairman Mohamed Othman Al- Mirghani in Saudi Arabia, while the Naivasha peace protocols was signed by the Sudanese government and the SPLA. The two agreements are widely regarded as blueprints for Sudanese political stability -- the first mainly dealing with northern opposition groups and the second with the southern Sudanese. Abu Eissa, who is currently the official spokesman for the NDA, stressed that both sides agreed that the political crisis in Sudan could only be resolved through a comprehensive political, not a military, solution. He also said that the participation of all political groups in Sudan was a prerequisite for peace and political stability. It is also widely believed that international pressure and the eruption of war in Darfur have forced the Sudanese government to adopt a more reconciliatory policy towards its opponents. "We set the pace of discussions at the meeting. We came to the meeting with a clear agenda. We drafted the agenda. They didn't. The government had no agenda to speak of. They basically came to listen to our demands," Abu Eissa told the Weekly. "We discussed the necessary procedural steps to make future talks successful," he explained. He said that a number of joint Sudanese government- NDA committees were to be set up including a constitutional affairs committee and an economic committee. The two parties discussed the Darfur crisis and the deteriorating security situation in eastern Sudan. But Abu Eissa also warned that certain aspects of the Naivasha agreement were negative and contradictory. He was especially critical of the status of the Sudanese capital and the imposition of Islamic Sharia law in multi-cultural and multi-religious Sudan. Abu Eissa stressed that the Sudanese government must dispel the notion that it can negotiate separate deals with the country's disparate political groups and factions. "All the various Sudanese political groups must be consulted and a comprehensive political solution to the Sudanese political crisis be found," he noted. "No group should be left out or sidelined." Abu Eissa dismissed reports that leaders of the NDA will be returning to Sudan in the near future. "We will only return to Sudan once a comprehensive political solution is found and democratic rule is firmly established in the country," he said. Topping the agenda at the Cairo meeting was determining the framework to realise a broad-based government of national unity and to agree upon a set of interim administrative structures. They also noted the importance of establishing an interim constitution. Upon the insistence of the NDA, the two parties agreed to uphold civil liberties, freedoms and human rights. They also accepted the principle of the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law. The two sides pledged to work towards the decentralisation of power and to establish new governmental structures. A review of the country's security apparatus and armed forces was also discussed. The two parties also pledged to pool efforts to protect the country's unity and territorial integrity. Abu Eissa expressed cautious optimism, but he said that while he does not entirely trust the Sudanese government's motives, he believes that the difficult circumstances they find themselves in might prompt them to work more seriously on instituting a new political configuration in Sudan. "We hope that they [the Sudanese government] are serious and continue to be serious," he said. "On the whole, there was a positive and constructive atmosphere at the Cairo meeting." Sudanese Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed Abdel-Halim concurred with Abu Eissa. He told the Weekly that Sudan is at a very important historical juncture. He said that he was especially grateful to the Egyptian authorities for hosting such a historic Sudanese meeting. The next round of Sudanese government-NDA talks is scheduled to take place in Cairo on 28 September.
