♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact digest of the past week's most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.

Saudi Arabia set to invest $3 bn in Sudan

November 10 – 2022 KHARTOUM Saudi Arabia have pledged $3 bn in a joint investment fund for Sudan during a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohamed Bin Salman and Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan at the COP27 Middle East Green Initiative on Monday.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, economist Khalid El Tijani, considered the $3 bn Saudi Investment Fund injection as nothing more than economic enterprise on their behalf. He explained that the Saudi Investment Fund is a profit-making institution. This requires that Sudan be able to present convincing projects to Saudi investors, and it is likely that the “amount allocated by the Saudi Fund will not be given all at once”.

Op-Ed: How the Sudanese military worsened the fuel crisis to justify their coup

November 11 – 2022 KHARTOUM At a time when fuel prices rise further, Sudan In The News published an investigation in which whistle-blowers in Sudan’s oil industry reveal that the military intentionally neglected securing oil fields, leaving them prone to attacks, in order to exacerbate the fuel shortages. These provided justification for 2021 coup d'état.

International isolation, the suspension of aid, failed policies, financial mismanagement, sanctions, and the ongoing political turbulence have caused the Sudanese Pound to plummet and Sudan's export market to collapse. Sudan In The News explains that much of this crisis was avoidable, and that the deliberate lack of security at oil fields plays a big role. Even this month, an oil pipeline was sabotaged in West Kordofan.

FFC 80% in agreement with Sudan military but criticises El Burhan's 'political manoeuvring'
November 15 – 2022 KHARTOUM The Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (the mainstream FFC) announced that they have reached an agreement with the military on roughly 80 per cent of issues. ‘Thorny and complex issues’ remain not agreed upon, however, and the FFC is critical of the military leader’s ‘political manoeuvring’.
 
Criticism as El Burhan defends Sudan's police amidst rising police brutality
November 15 – 2022 KHARTOUM / OMDURMAN Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan accused ‘enemies of the Sudanese people’ of driving a wedge between the police and the people. Lawyers condemned El Burhan’s defence of the police.
 
Farmers of Sudan’s El Gezira Agricultural Scheme discuss unionising
November 14 – 2022 EL GEZIRA Discussions have ignited over forming professional associations or unions of farmers and livestock owners for those involved in the El Gezira Agricultural Scheme in order to address economic liberalisation of land ownership, seven years after the Farmers Union was disbanded by the Al Bashir regime in Sudan.
 
Investigative journalist barred from entering Sudan
November 14 – 2022 KHARTOUM The authorities at Khartoum International Airport allegedly prevented film director Philip Cox from entering Khartoum from Turkey on Saturday morning.
 
El Burhan confirms negotiations on new Sudanese constitutional framework
November 14 – 2022 KHARTOUM / OMDURMAN Head of the Sovereignty Council and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan claimed on Sunday that the new civilian government will not be partisan and the mainstream Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) agreed not to return to power. He denied rumours about any bilateral settlement.
 
REDRESS calls on UN High Commissioner visiting Sudan to help tortured activists
November 13 – 2022 LONDON / KHARTOUM The UK-based human rights advocacy group, REDRESS organisation, called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who is currently visiting Sudan, to intervene in the case of eight Sudanese activists who were arrested in connection with the killing of a member of the Sudanese army.
 
Sudan doctors call to declare El Obeid disaster area amidst dengue fever outbreak
November 11 – 2022 EL OBEID The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors (CCSD) and protest groups called on the federal government to declare the area of El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan, a disaster area due to the outbreak of dengue fever. They describe 'a health disaster' and explain that hospitals are overcrowded with patients.
 
Sudan fuel price rise sign of 'chaotic economic policies'
November 11 – 2022 KHARTOUM On Thursday, the price of petrol increased by almost 20 per cent, while the price of diesel increased by seven per cent as announced by the Ministry of Energy and Mining. The decisions come after a recent cut in prices. According to economic analyst Hafiz Ismail, the increase can be seen as an unofficial tax increase.
 
Another suspicious death in police custody shows rising police brutality and impunity
November 11 – 2022 KHARTOUM A young man died in police custody after an arbitrary arrest, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday. Officers did not give a consistent explanation for his death; they first said that Musasser Kamal (29) had died from natural causes before claiming that he had actually died from a drug overdose. Family saw scars and blood all over his body.
 
'Suspicious' killing in Sudan intelligence headquarters
November 10 – 2022 EL GEDAREF A man was killed inside the military intelligence headquarters in Safwa in eastern Sudan's El Gedaref on Tuesday. Family members of the slain man said that they tried to accompany him, but intelligence personnel assured them that this was a “routine procedure and did not require their presence”.