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| Africa Horn |
| Sudanese government rejects religion workshop recommendations: SPLM-N Hilu |
| 2020-11-04 |
| [SUDANTRIBUNE] The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, revealed that the head of the Sudanese government delegation, Shams al-Din Kabbashi, rejected the recommendations of the workshop on the relationship between state and religion. A workshop on the state’s relationship with religion was held in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, over the past week concerning the gaps between the government and the movement, as a result of the joint agreement between al-Hilu and Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok on September 3. "The Movement agreed to the controllers and experts’ report proposing to separate religion from the state, in order to ensure a peaceful solution," said the Movement’s front man, Koko Mohammed Jagdoul, in a statement extended to the Sudan Tribune on Monday. "But in the closing session, Kabbashi rejected the outcomes of the workshop after having accepted them and congratulated the controllers outside the hall." Jagdoul further pointed out that the head of the government delegation, Kabbashi, and the delegation’s spokesperson, Mohammed Hassan Eltaishi, were absent from most of the workshop sessions. Consequently, the SPLM-N held Kabbashi responsible for the failure of the workshop, noting that its paramount goal was to reach a consensus on the relationship between religion and the state. "Failure to accept the 3 September agreement means not accepting the separation of religion from the state and rejecting the grinding of the peace processor," stressed the front man. On September 3, the Sudanese Prime Minister agreed to introduce the subject of the relationship between the state and religion in the peace talks with al-Hilu, hold informal workshops, then reach a common understanding on the matter before resuming formal talks. The SPLM demand made including the relationship of the state with religion in the peace negotiations their chief condition. The workshop, which took place on Saturday and Sunday, was attended by representatives of both the Sudanese government and the SPLM-North and several experts, and in addition to the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), the PDS consultants, and the South Sudanese mediation team. |
| Posted by:Fred |