Sudan army ‘ready to integrate former rebel combatants’

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are ready to integrate the fighters of the armed rebel movements, Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan said.

El Burhan added that their integration into the armed forces will be subject to conditions, which include “equal distribution of opportunities for people from different regions of Sudan according to the size of their population”.

El Burhan said this yesterday when addressing officers and soldiers from the Bahri Military District. He also said that the armed forces are “working in perfect harmony with members of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) and members of the armed rebel movements to implement this process of integration”.

He renewed his call on the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu (SPLM-N El Hilu) and the Sudan Liberation Movement under the leadership of Abdelwahid El Nur (SLM-AW) to join the peace process.

El Burhan also called “on the political forces in the country” to accelerate the completion of the structures of the transitional period, including the formation of the Legislative Council and the Constitutional Court. He added that the armed forces do not have the ambition to rule the country.

National Umma Party

During a press conference on Saturday, the National Umma Party (NUP) rejected any extension of the three year transitional period at the moment that SPLM-N El Hilu and the SLM-AW sign a peace agreement with the Sudanese government. The NUP stressed that SPLM-N and SLM-AW need to be included in the peace process in order to achieve real peace.

NUP Vice President Ibrahim El Amin said that all appointments in senior positions in state institutions after April 11, 2019 [the fall of president Omar Al Bashir] must be reviewed. The appointment of civil servants must be bound by clear and binding criteria, NUP stated.

El Amin stressed the need to rebuild confidence between the members of the FFC in order to create a politically secure environment, which can ensure a smooth transition towards democracy.

He also pointed to problems in the implementation of security arrangements and power and wealth sharing, and said that “there is a conflicts of interest between regional and international parties in Sudan”.

El Amin renewed the NUP’s rejection of the normalisation of relations with Israel, stating that the United States had imposed that normalisation.

Communist Party

Siddig Yousef from the Communist Party of Sudan (CPoS) criticised the Peace Commission bill, which has been approved by the Council of Ministers. He also denounced that the Peace Commission falls under the responsibility of the Sovereignty Council, although the Constitutional Document stipulates that peace is a competence of the Council of Ministers. He demanded that this be corrected, and called for “a review of the members of the Peace Commission”.

Minister of Interior Affairs

The Minister of Interior Affairs, Lt Gen Ezzeldin El Sheikh, pledged “to end the lack of security and the chaos in the capital”. He will provide legal protection for members of the police force, and an emergency plan that includes a massive deployment of forces in the coming days.

El Sheikh referred to agreements with the Ministry of Higher Education to maintain security at universities campuses. He stressed that the police will not interfere with students' practices, nor restrict their personal freedom.

Lt Gen Issa Adam Ismail, Khartoum State Police Director, announced that four suspects have been arrested in relation to the killing of an Oil Energy employee last Friday. The suspects allegedly have confessed. Ismail affirmed that there are now 127 police surveillance cameras in Khartoum.

Lt Gen Khaled Mahdi Ibrahim, Director General of Police, stated yesterday that four murders have been committed within 48 hours in Khartoum. He said that the main motive of the crimes was theft and that the murders have not been committed by organised crime.

Juba

A delegation from the Nuba Mountains Civil Forces Alliance left Juba, the capital of the Republic of South Sudan. They demand secularism and separation of religion from state. They will later meet with the SPLM-N El Hilu delegation. The alliance reaffirmed the need for a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace.