Idris Deby accepts to participate in Sudan's dialogue process

African Union and Chadian president Idriss Deby Itno has accepted an invitation by his Sudanese counterpart, Omar al-Bashir to participate in a national dialogue conference.

The conference, slated for October 10 is scheduled to take place in Sudan’s capital Khartoum.

“Chadian President Idriss Deby has agreed to an invitation by President Omar al-Bashir to attend the sessions of the national dialogue,” Sudan’s foreign ministry said in a press release.

Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour on Thursday met Deby in New York on the sidelines of the meeting of the 71st session of UN General Assembly. Meanwhile, the general secretariat of the Sudanese national dialogue has announced completion of all arrangements for the conference.

In January 2014, al-Bashir declared an initiative calling on the opposition parties and the armed groups to join a national dialogue to end the country’s crises.

The sessions started in October last year with the active participation of a number of Sudanese political parties, civil society organizations and some Darfur armed groups.

However, major political parties and armed movements have turned down the invitation. Among others the Revolutionary Front Alliance, which brings together the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector and the major Darfur armed movements.

Their refusal is premised on the view that a preparatory conference should be held, according to decisions by the AU Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council, to bring together all the Sudanese political forces to agree on procedures to initiate an equitable dialogue with the government, a demand that the Sudanese government rejects.