Int’l envoy arrives in Sudan ahead of UNITAMS joint discussion

Representatives of the Troika countries (USA, UK, and Norway), as well as senior officials from France, Germany, and representatives from the European Union (EU), arrived in Khartoum yesterday to discuss the possibility of providing economic assistance.

Members of the international delegation will meet with Sudanese officials and civil society members to stress the importance of making “rapid and tangible progress in setting a framework for an inclusive civilian transitional government”.

The visiting countries came to confirm their support for Sudan’s democratic transition ahead of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), African Union, and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) tripartite Eid al-Fitr dialogue with a number of Sudanese stakeholders.

African Union envoy, Mohamed Elhassan Labat, stressed the need for “large sectors of the resistance committees and female activists to participate in the dialogue”, and described the situation in Sudan as “sensitive and dangerous”.

He also added that the National Congress Party had not participated in the dialogue, and the tripartite effort was “considering their participation”.

IGAD representative, Ismail Awais, welcomed the release of Wajdi Saleh and others as a “positive development”, he called for the release of the rest of the political prisoners and resistance committees before Eid al-Fitr as part of a show of good faith.

UNITAMS head, Volker Perthes, said failure to address the current crisis in Sudan “could lead to further instability and threaten the economic, political, and social gains made after the December Revolution”.