KHARTOUM, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday urged the opposition parties to participate in drafting the country's constitution and holding the general elections, set for April 2020.
Al-Bashir made the remarks when he met the Head of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki, the official SUNA news agency reported.
The Sudanese leader further reiterated that his government would continue its dialogue with all parties "to ensure participation of all sons of Sudan in building the homeland," the report said.
Meanwhile, Mbeki told reporters that the meeting reviewed a number of outstanding topics relating to the agenda of the negotiations at South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur regions.
He said the government's vision of comprehensive solution and its willingness to involve all parties in the dialogue "represented a motive for the mediation to continue its peace efforts."
Mbeki on Wednesday began consultations in Khartoum with government officials on resumption of the negotiations on South Kordofan and Blue Nile and the dialogue with the opponents on the constitution and the elections.
The AUHIP is tasked with the mediation between the Sudanese government, the Darfur rebel movements and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector.
The Sudanese government has been fighting the SPLM/northern sector at South Kordofan and Blue Nile states since 2011. It has also been battling a group of armed movements in the Darfur region since 2003.
