Bashir To Meet Opposition Leaders

23 July 2010 - (Khartoum) – The first Vice President and President of Southern Sudan government, Salva Kiir, met with the leaders of northern opposition parties in Khartoum on Thursday.

The SPLM deputy secretary general-northern section, Yasir Arman, spoke to the press after the meeting.

[Yasir Arman]: “The meeting discussed the invitation by the chairman of the NCP, President al-Bashir, to meet with the political forces on Saturday. After extensive negotiations, the participants agreed that the intended meeting should be a comprehensive meeting in viewing Sudan’s issues. The first and most important issue to be discussed is availing freedoms as an entrance to discuss all the issues facing Sudan. Secondly, the importance of conducting a free and fair referendum as scheduled, and with the support and participation of all political forces in order to have the referendum done in a peaceful manner in case of unity or separation. The meeting also tackled the importance of a comprehensive and just peace in Darfur.”

After the April elections, the leaders of the opposition parties rejected to participate in the current government, claiming that the NCP rigged the elections.