Sudan: Forces of Freedom and Change to negotiate directly with military council

The Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) decided, Wednesday, to engage in direct negotiations with the Transitional Military Council (TMC), at the official invitation of the African-Ethiopian mediation, according to the Anadolu Agency.

A leader of the central movement gathering the Sudanese protesters, FFC, who preferred to remain anonymous, explained to the Anadolu Agency that “the FFC accepted the request of the mediators to participate in direct negotiations with the TMC.”

He added: “We have accepted to sit down to the negotiating table on terms” which he did not specify.

The FFC leader pointed out that all components of movement, “the Sudan Appeal Alliance, the National Consensus Forces (NCF), the Opposition Federal Assembly” and the Sudanese Professionals Association, as well as the civilian forces, agreed to hold direct negotiations with the military junta, after a series of consultations.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mohammad Naji Al-Assam expressed on behalf of the Sudanese Professionals Association reservations about what he called the TMC’s insistence to hold the presidency of the Sovereign Council permanently, in the framework of the African-Ethiopian mediation’s proposal.

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A well-informed source in the FFC indicated, Wednesday, that the “overwhelming trend” within the revolutionary movement was to accept the invitation of the joint African-Ethiopian mediation to negotiate directly with the TMC.

On 27 June, the FFC, leader of the revolutionary movement in Sudan, announced receiving a draft agreement proposed by the joint African-Ethiopian mediation, to agree with the military junta.

Since the collapse of negotiations last month, the two sides have exchanged accusations of attempting to dominate the proposed sovereign bodies during the transitional period.

The TMC has repeatedly expressed its intention to hand power over to civilians. However, the FFC is concerned that the army may circumvent the demands of the popular movement to retain power, in the same way, other military establishments did in other Arab countries.

On 11 April, Sudanese army ousted Omar Al-Bashir after 30 years in office, following the outbreak of public protests late last year, denouncing the deteriorating economic situations in Sudan.