High-level Tagaddum delegation in Cairo for political talks

In a remarkable development regarding the political situation in Sudan, the Egyptian government invited the chair of the Civil Democratic Forces, former PM Abdalla Hamdok, to Cairo for talks. Dabanga correspondent Ashraf Abdelaziz spoke with the alliance’s spokesperson Alaaeldin Nugud in Addis Ababa about Hamdok’s current visit to the Egyptian capital.

“The visit follows the recent turn in the Egyptian position on the absurd war raging in Sudan, creating one of the largest humanitarian disasters in the world,” Abdelaziz writes. “Observers believe that the Egyptian transformation began with the participation of Egyptian officials in the Manama platform, after which they invited Tagaddum* leaders to discuss stopping the war in Sudan.”

The invitation from the Egyptian government came after a request for a meeting made by the Civil Democratic Forces (Tagaddum, meaning progress in Arabic) alliance of Sudanese pro-democratic political parties and groups, including prominent members of the mainstream Forces for Freedom and Change. Tagaddum was founded in October last year.

“The latest developments, especially the very positive talks in Manama, capital of Bahrain, an Egyptian-Emirati initiative that took place in end January between Lt Gen Shamseldin Kabashi, deputy commander-in-chief of Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the deputy commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Gen Abdelrahim Dagalo, paved the way for Egypt’s invitation to the Civil Democratic Forces,” Abdelaziz states.

Last year in July, the Egyptian authorities organised a summit in Cairo for Sudan’s seven neighbouring countries to discuss the consequences of the violent conflict between the SAF and the RSF. The participating leaders agreed to establish a ‘ministerial mechanism’ aimed at bringing an end to the war. The League of Arab States and the African Union were to implement the summit’s outcomes.

All neighbouring countries received tens to hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees since the fighting broke out on April 15 last year, including Egypt. The continued flow of refugees and the disruption of many economic interests are both putting pressure on the Egyptian government.

“All these factors, in addition to the large and clear influence of Islamists in the army and Sudanese de facto government, and the Iranian support of the RSF in the war, now threatening trade through the Red Sea and the Egyptian Suez Canal, made the climate ripe for Cairo’s invitation of the Sudanese politicians.”

The high-level Tagaddum delegation, chaired by Hamdok, arrived in Cairo on Friday.

Egyptian journalist and political analyst Shawqi Abdelazim told Radio Dabanga that day that “the military leadership in Sudan continued to believe that Egypt was one of its supporters, given the repeated visits of military leaders and [SAF Commander) El Burhan personally to Egypt. It was not a secret that the relationship between the SAF leadership and the Civil Democratic Forces was tense. The army avoided meeting with Tagaddum for months, and now, through this visit, the way may be opened for a meeting with the SAF leadership, as happened before with the RSF”.

Manama talks

Radio Dabanga correspondent Abdelaziz spoke with Tagaddum spokesperson Alaaeldin Nugud in the Ethiopian capital on Saturday about the importance of the alliance’s visit to Cairo.

According to Nugud, the principles agreed on in the Egyptian-backed Manama talks “fully correspond with the roadmap Tagaddum developed in November last year, including the formation of one professional Sudanese army in a way that guarantees diversity, guarantees justice, and dismantling the remaining Al Bashir cells within the security and military institutions and the civil service. These principles stipulated in the Manama Agreement constitute a very big push for an end to the war and the restoration of democracy in Sudan”.

New alliances

The Egyptian intervention may contribute to the creation of new alliances, and bridge the gap between Tagaddum and the FFC-Democratic Bloc, consisting of Darfur rebel movements that backed the joint SAF-RSF coup d’état that ousted the government of Hamdok in October 2021, the mainstream Democratic Unionist Party, the Sudanese Ba’ath Party, and the eastern Sudanese High Council for Beja Nazirs.

“We are open to meeting all Sudanese political forces, except the dissolved National Congress Party, the Islamic Movement, and their allies,” Nugud said.

“Taqaddum is the product of a broad civil front to stop the war, so we welcome any party based on the slogan No to War. The problem lies in those who call for the continuation of the war and have fighters allied to one of the warring parties.”

Hamdok met earlier with Minni Minawi, governor of Darfur region, head of a Sudan Liberation Front breakaway faction, and co-founder of the FFC- Democratic Bloc. “These meetings are nothing more than dialogues that contribute to pushing towards official dialogues, personally or on behalf of an institution. The Tagaddum chair is using use all his personal and official relations to push for an end to the fighting and the suffering of the Sudanese.”

Impact

As for the possible impact of Hamdok’s visit to Cairo , the alliance’s spokesperson said that “the Tagaddum efforts have led to invitations to many platforms that did not invite civil coalitions before. We attended meetings of the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), we talked with African presidents on the sidelines of the African Union summit last month, so it is not that strange for Tagaddum to be officially invited by Egypt.

“We always carry the same agenda, our road map and the Declaration of Principles we signed with the RSF in early January and still hope to sign with the SAF, which we have now been discussing in Cairo and will continue to discuss to reach an end to the devastating violence in Sudan”.