Agar favours IGAD mediation for Sudan peace process

KHARTOUM – May 19, 2023

Malik Agar, newly appointed Deputy Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, stated that Sudan needs a serious peace process with African partners under the umbrella of the presidential mechanism established by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Agar was appointed deputy chairman after Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Commander Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo was ‘dismissed’ from this function on May 19, following the outbreak fighting between the RSF and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), Commanded by Sovereignty Council Chairman Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, a month earlier.

In a press statement yesterday, Agar said that he spoke separately with Moussa Faki, Chairman of the African Union Commission, Volker Perthes, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Sudan, and Torsten Hutter, Head of the East Africa and Horn of Africa Department at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He warned against hasty formal power-sharing agreements.

Agar said: “I made it clear to them that formal solutions would not succeed in addressing the issue and that it might have extremely dangerous negative effects on civilians”.

He stressed that the priority now is to stop the war, restore security and safety for civilians, ensure the protection of civilians and the delivery of humanitarian aid, and not to talk about any political process or agreements about power.

Agar stressed that the situation in Sudan needs a serious peace process under the umbrella of an IGAD mechanism formed by the presidents of South Sudan, Kenya, and Djibouti, with the participation of the African Union, and for the United Nations and all partners concerned with peace in Sudan to provide the necessary technical and political support.

Mediation initiatives

Agar called for unifying all the different mediation initiatives presented in order to avoid the multiplicity of platforms and initiatives in the future, which may negatively affect the peace process.

Workneh Gebeyehu, the executive secretary IGAD, stressed that it is necessary for the African Union and IGAD to lead efforts to reach a permanent solution in Sudan after it had previously proposed mediation initiatives.

The organisation had previously offered to send a high-level peace mission to Khartoum, including the presidents of South Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti, to urge the two sides to agree on a ceasefire.

The African Union’s Peace and Security Council affirmed that there is no military solution to the crisis in Sudan and called for the involvement of civilians in peace negotiations.

Egyptian President Abdelfattah Sisi said that Egypt’s efforts to end the crisis in Sudan are complementary to the efforts of the African Union and the Arab League as the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, called for a coordinated international effort to save the national institutions in Sudan.

The Arab League previously encouraged the Sudanese to reach an agreement “away from international interference” but civilian groups called for international intervention and explained that the league’s rejection of external interference in Sudan contributes to further igniting or expanding the war.