Othman Mirghani: Intra-Sudanese Dialogue Is the Only Way Out of the Crisis

Cairo – Sudanhorizon – Sabah Musa

The official spokesperson for The Sudanese Dialogue Groundwork Committee, Othman Mirghani, affirmed that the international conference held in Geneva on Wednesday for consultations on Sudan represents a fresh boost to international and regional efforts aimed at addressing the Sudanese crisis.

In an exclusive statement to Sudanhorizon News, Mirghani said the committee was monitoring the proceedings of the consultative conference, along with its conclusions and outcomes. He pointed to the statements delivered by participating countries at the important conference, adding that the strong support expressed by Saudi Arabia’s representative, Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji, in what he described as a forceful intervention, reinforced support for intra-Sudanese dialogue conducted from within Sudan.

Mirghani considered dialogue from within Sudan to be the only way out of the country’s political crisis. He stressed the need for international support for this political process, which could address the underlying causes of the war in Sudan and help achieve stability, not only in the short term by ending the war, but also over the long term at a strategic level.

He noted that there had been no direct communication between the consultative conference and the committee working to prepare for dialogue from within Sudan. However, he clarified that several parties participating in the conference had contacted the committee, including the European Union, the representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, the United Kingdom, France, and several other parties.

He indicated that the committee might participate in future rounds of consultative meetings involving organisations and countries concerned with peace in Sudan. Mirghani emphasised the importance of the Geneva consultative conference, saying it ultimately underscored the need to address the Sudanese issue on the basis that the government’s legitimacy is the starting point for engaging with the country’s political landscape, rather than attempting at times to suggest that two competing sources of legitimacy exist in Sudan.

Regarding the latest developments in the work of the committee preparing for dialogue from within Sudan, Mirghani said it had made considerable progress in engaging with Sudanese political and community forces. He added that, over the past period, the committee had held consultative meetings with a broad range of prominent political leaders and groups representing different segments of the political landscape.

He noted that these contacts were continuing to reach all parties the committee believed were genuinely willing to participate in the ongoing consultations. The progress achieved so far indicated a strong desire among these political forces to engage in intra-Sudanese dialogue. Indeed, he said, there was a sense of urgency to move forward to the dialogue stage.
Mirghani explained that this next phase would not fall solely within the committee’s remit, as its current mandate is limited to consulting political forces and preparing the ground for a Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue conference. He said the committee had been in contact with all parties, including external stakeholders, while some parties continued to engage with these external stakeholders through several channels.

He added that some parties had agreed to participate in the dialogue, while others still had substantive reservations that were being discussed in an effort to reach consensus on all issues that could help convene an intra-Sudanese dialogue conference as soon as possible.

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