The rebel group of Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) denied media reports published in Khartoum claiming that the head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki invited the group’s Secretary-General Yasir Arman to travel to Addis Ababa for consultations.
SPLM-N spokesperson Ardol Mubarak blamed this report on a member of the Sudanese government negotiating team by the name of Hussein Karshum.
"Hussein Karshum is himself the source of the report.....the report is untrue and has no basis except with the security apparatus, and is intended to stir doubts within the opposition [ranks]" Mubarak said in an emailed statement.
But Karshum denied in an interview with Sudan Tribune Mubarak’s accusations, saying that he only commented on the report.
"The SPLM-N is not summoned but consulted. President Mbeki did not ask us to attend any consultation and none of the leaders met Mbeki on his current trip to Addis Ababa, which comes for the purpose of participation in the International Conference on Financing for Development in Africa," SPLM-N spokesperson said.
He stressed that the SPLM-N is working within the framework of "Sudan Call" charter and is fully committed to what has been agreed upon with its signatories.
The Sudanese army has been fighting SPLM-N rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011 and a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.
