Ahmad 
The Sudanese Civil Democratic Forces Coordination “Taqadum” has announced its decision to decline participation in the first phase of the political dialogue organized by the African Mechanism in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The General Secretariat of Coordination explained in a statement that they have information that confirms their concerns about the lack of transparency in the design of the meeting.
The statement pointed out that the meeting is controlled by elements of the former regime and “war forces,” which marginalizes and excludes the forces of peace and civil democratic transformation.
The coordination stated that this situation only leads to granting legitimacy to the war and its forces instead of achieving peace in Sudan.
The coordination received an invitation to attend the meeting from Mohamed Ibn Chambas, head of the high-level African mechanism concerned with Sudan, on the tenth of last June.
The statement added that the coalition studied the invitation seriously and responsibly and requested a meeting with the mechanism to respond to their inquiries, and the meeting was held virtually on June 25, 2024. However, the coalition did not obtain the required details, as the mechanism reserved its reservations about notifying them of the parties participating in the meeting and refused to consult about that.
The coalition sent a delegation led by the Secretary-General to meet with the African Union in Addis Ababa on July 5, 2024, to obtain the necessary information. During the meeting, it stressed the importance of the political process being owned and led by the Sudanese.
The coalition indicated that the high-level African mechanism made clear in its speech that it had consulted with both sides of the war, but at the same time it stressed that the meeting was dedicated to civilian forces.
The coalition considered it unacceptable that civilians were not consulted in advance before submitting invitations.
In a related context, the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Abdel Wahid Nour, and the Arab Socialist Baath Party announced not to participate in the Addis Ababa conference.
The spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Movement, Muhammad Abdel Rahman Al-Nayer, confirmed that the movement asked the African Union to provide it with a list of participants in the conference before sending its delegation to Addis Ababa, but it did not respond to their request, which led to its apology for participating in the conference.
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