Turabi refuses Qatari initiative for reconciliation with Sudanese president
Sudan-Regional, Politics, 1/5/2000

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem al-Thani on Tuesday stressed that the chairman of the dissolved Sudanese Parliament, Hassan Turabi has refused the settlement proposal made by Qatar to settle the political crisis in Sudan.

Upon returning to Doha on Tuesday from Khartoum, Sheikh Hamad said the state of Qatar has presented a paper including ideas for maintaining reconciliation between Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Turabi.

He added that Qatar has exerted relentless efforts to come up with a reconciliation formula after making amendments to the earlier proposed Qatari paper, but Turabi "refused the proposed amendment."

In Khartoum, the al-Sahafi al-Dawli Sudanese daily said that Sheikh Hamad has proposed Turabi to give up his post as a secretary general of the ruling National Congress party and to be chairman of the party but with certain authorities, leaving the general secretariat of the said party for another person.

The paper reported that the Qatari foreign minister made this proposal during his first visit to Khartoum on Sunday, noting that he made on Monday night a visit to Khartoum to learn the responses.

The Sudanese presidency said that Sheikh Hamad had made shuttle visits between al-Bashir and Turabi all Monday night.

Meanwhile, before his second visit to Khartoum, Sheikh Hamad visited Cairo on Monday where he met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and briefed him on the situation in Sudan.

Following the meeting, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said that Sheikh Hamad briefed President Mubarak on the results of diplomatic contacts his country made over Sudan, especially following Turabi's visit to Qatar last week.

Moussa stressed that there are no differences in the viewpoints between Qatar and Egypt over Sudan.

For his part, the Qatari minister said that his country recognizes al-Bashir as leader of Sudan and that the country's leadership should be held by one person rather than shared by two.

Earlier, an official source in Cairo said that Moussa left on Tuesday afternoon for Khartoum for a one-day visit.

In a pre-departure statement to reporters Moussa said he was to meet in Khartoum with his Libyan counterpart, Omar al-Muntasir, before a tripartite meeting which will include President al-Bashir.

On Monday Moussa said that these tripartite meetings will deal with the Libyan-Egyptian initiative which was approved by the Sudanese government and opposition.

The initiative which was released in August 1999 stated to convene a conference on reconciliation bringing together the government with the southern and northern opposition in order to put an end to the civil war in southern Sudan that erupted in 1983 and to reach a pan-national reconciliation.

Previous Stories:
  Qatari reconciliation mission between El-Bashir and Turabi ends with no result   (1/3/2000)
  Sudan's negotiations with IGAD to continue   (12/27/1999)
  A ministerial committee for integration between Egypt and Sudan   (12/27/1999)

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