JUBA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Wednesday called on Sudan's opposition groups to form a unified front to engage in peace talks with the newly formed transitional government in Khartoum.
Tut Kew Gatluak, presidential security advisor, said Kiir who held talks with ten leaders of opposition groups in Juba, urged them to seek peaceful settlement of their outstanding differences with the government under their umbrella body, Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) headed by El Hadi Idris of the Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council (SLM-TC).
"President Kiir invited them to Juba to sit together and discuss after they agreed to unite in order to bring peace in Sudan and also to engage the Sudanese government on peaceful settlement of their grievances," Gatluak told journalists in Juba after the meeting.
"We hope you people bring peace to Sudan because when you have peace in Sudan, we also can have peace in South Sudan," he disclosed.
Malik Agar, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-North sector (SPLM/A-N) said unity among rebel groups is crucial to securing comprehensive peace in Sudan.
"When we don't unite, we cannot achieve peace in Sudan. The first thing is to unite and then we can discuss our problems with the (Sudan) government," said Agar.
The opposition groups under the SRF umbrella formed in November 2011 include SPLM/A-N, Justice Equality Movement (JEM) under Jibril Ibrahim, Democratic Union Party led by Eltom Hajou, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) under Minni Minnawi.
These rebel groups fought against the government of former President Omar Al-Bashir but are now seeking to be included in the transitional government formed in July by the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the opposition Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC).
In July Mohamed Hamdan Daqlu, the deputy head of TMC met with President Kiir in Juba in a move to start mediation talks with the armed opposition groups.
The transitional government in Sudan led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is currently in the process of nominating ministers to fill up positions in the coalition government.
