KHARTOUM
A coalition of Sudanese opposition parties on Wednesday set four conditions for entering talks with the government of President Omar al-Bashir.
The Alliance of Sudanese Opposition Parties, which includes parties that declined a presidential invitation to hold talks earlier this week, said that al-Bashir must abolish laws that restrict personal freedoms; release political detainees; open investigations into the killing of anti-austerity protesters last September; and open unconditional talks with the country's various regional militant groups.
"There can be no dialogue with the government without meeting these four conditions," Farouk Abu Eissa, a leading member of the opposition coalition, said at a Khartoum press conference. "Real change will come with the regime's downfall."
Sudan has remained on edge since the government announced a raft of austerity measures last September – including a major reduction of fuel subsidies – aimed at reining in a widening budget deficit and curbing government spending.
The controversial measures ended up triggering mass protests in the heart of Khartoum.
Abu Eissa accused foreign countries of propping up the al-Bashir regime, which, he alleged, had reciprocated by serving those countries' interests. Al-Bashir's plan, he claimed, was to launch a phony political process aimed at co-opting the opposition.
The Sudanese president, said Abu Eissa, insisted on ignoring the ongoing political crisis – and the reasons behind it – in his country.
"The regime has reached the lowest degree of bankruptcy," he said. "It simply wants to defuse the crisis in the name of dialogue."
By Mohamed al-Khatem
englishnews@aa.com.tr
