Three Sudanese armed movements form ‘Kush alliance’

Armed opposition groups in South Kordofan, eastern Sudan, and Darfur have formed the United Sudanese National Congress or the Kush alliance. They signed a joint charter on Tuesday.

The Kush alliance was established by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction in South Kordofan under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu, the Corrective Beja Congress headed by Zeinab Kabbashi, and the Sudan Liberation Forces Alliance led by El Tahir Hajar.

In a statement on Tuesday, chairman Mohamed Hashim described the establishment of “this historic alliance” as an important step to achieve peace and democracy in Sudan.

He announced the signing of a joint charter in which the three movements call for “the formulation of a new national project, based on the recognition of the ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity” in the country.

“Citizenship should be the basis of all rights and duties instead of centralisation and marginalisation,” he stated.

Hashim called on “all Sudanese progressive democratic forces, marginalised forces, and all those affected by the status quo to join the Kush alliance, and work together to bring about a radical change in the structure of the Sudanese state, and build a nation that is able to serve all”.

The ruling Transitional Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change signed a Political Charter on July 17 that stipulates the way Sudan will be governed during a coming interim period of three years and three months. On Saturday, they agreed on the contents of the Constitutional Declaration that complements the charter.

Splits

The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), a coalition of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction led by Malik Agar in Blue Nile state (SPLM-N Agar), the Sudan Liberation Movement faction headed by Minni Minawi (SLM-MM), and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), has rejected both documents.

The SRF was established in November 2011, by the leaders of the then four main armed movements in the country: the Sudan Liberation Movement under the leadership of Abdelwahid El Nur (SLM-AW), the SLM-MM faction, the JEM, and the SPLM-N.

They declared they would overthrow the regime of President Omar Al Bashir “using all available means“. Two small rebel groups headed by Nasreldin El Hadi and El Tom Hajo became member in 2012.The following year, the eastern Sudanese United People’s Front for Liberation and Justice (UPFLJ), led by Zeinab Kabbashi, joined the coalition.

The SLM-AW withdrew from the SRF when the coalition opted for a peaceful solution. Its founder Abdelwahid El Nur says he will only join peace negotiations after Khartoum has restored stability and security in Darfur. The United People’s Front left the coalition as well, just as SPLM-N deputy chairman Abdelaziz El Hilu and his followers in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan in 2017.

In March 2017, the Nuba Mountains Liberation Council of the movement supported El Hilu’s stance on self-determination for South Kordofan and Blue Nile state, and replaced SPLM-N leader Malik Agar with El Hilu, which paved the way for a split of the movement into two factions.

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