Darfur rebel leader meets Salva Kiir, praises strategic relations with SPLM

PARIS — Abdel Wahid Al-Nur, the founder of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) praised the "strategic relations" between his group and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) saying that the ties between the two political forces "are now on the right track". Sudan First Vice President and Chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Salva Kiir, met with the rebel leader during his official visit to Paris this week where they discussed issues related to Darfur peace process, the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the next year general election.

Al-Nur was a close ally of the late SPLM Chairman John Garang, but the Paris meeting was the first between him and Kiir since his appointment as First Vice President. There had been several attempts in the past to organize a meeting between the two men without success.

"The meeting was a turning point in the relations between our movements. It will have positive impact in the areas of peace and democratic transition in the country and Darfur as well as all the strategic issue related to the Sudan and its unity."

The rebel leader, who held a series of meeting with Kiir during his two days stay in Paris, further described his meeting as "constructive and very positive".

The SPLM attempted in 2007 to reunite the different rebel factions and organized with the support of the United Nations a series of meetings to reunite more than ten groups in two movements. At the time Al-Nur declined to take part in these meetings.

Al-Nur said his discussions with Kiir cleared all the differences and "relations between the SPLM and SLM are now on the right track."

Asked if he would visit Juba as it was stated by Luka Biong, the minister of presidential affairs in southern Sudan government, Al-Nur said that everything is possible as long as it would be for the sake of security and peace in the country.

Al-Nur, who had rejected Abuja peace agreement in 2006, up until recently distanced himself from the ongoing efforts to settle the six year conflict in Darfur, requesting protection to displaced population and disarmament of the government militias.

Last month the joint mediator Djibril Bassole and the rebel leader held a series of meetings and agreed to cooperate together in order to achieve peace in western Sudan.

Al-Nur requested the First Vice-President to play "a leadership role in order to achieve security and peace in Darfur. We believe that this meeting will have a positive impact on the peace process in Darfur and throughout Sudan."
He stressed that the SPLM is a strategic ally with whom they share the establishment of a secular and democratic state in Sudan.

Last Thursday, during a meeting in Paris with researchers and Sudan experts Salva Kiir stressed that the SPLM is very keen to contribute to the resolution of Darfur conflict.

Darfur mediation plans to organize peace talks involving the two main rebel groups that had rejected Abuja peace process and the splinter groups. the process could start in the beginning of the next year.