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H.E. Ahmed bin Abdallah Al-Mahmoud, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, and H.E. Aichatou Mindaoudou, the AU-UN Joint Chief Mediator for Darfur, a.i, made the following statement: 

In the presence of H.E. Ahmed bin Abdallah Al-Mahmoud, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, and H.E. Aichatou Mindaoudou, the AU-UN Joint Chief Mediator for Darfur, a.i, an Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Justice and Equality Movement-Sudan on the basis of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) has been initialed today, the 24^th of March 2013, in Doha, by the delegations of the Government of Sudan under the leadership of H.E. Dr. Amin Hassan Omar, Minister of State in the Presidency and Head of Darfur Peace Follow-Up office, and the Justice and Equality Movement under the leadership of Mr. Mohammad Bashar Ahmad, President of the Movement, respectively.  

This Agreement is initialed following the Declaration on Cessation of Hostilities and Commitment to the Peace Process signed on 24^th of October 2012; the Agenda for Negotiations signed on the 24^th of January 2013, and the Ceasefire Agreement signed on the 10^th of February 2013.

Meanwhile, the Negotiations between the Parties shall continue in order to reach an agreement on issues related to final security arrangements and political participation. 

The Mediation urges the Parties to continue their negotiations in the same constructive spirit that has so far prevailed in order to reach a comprehensive and lasting settlement for the conflict in Darfur.