‘US Sanctions relief lifts veil on internal problems in Sudan economy’: El Sadig El Mahdi

El Sadig El Mahdi, the President of the National Umma Party (NUP), says that the lifting of US economic sanctions “strips the government of the veil and reveals that the problem in the Sudanese economy is subjective and has nothing to do with external factors”.

At a news conference at the NUP headquarters in Omdurman, Imam El Mahdi highlighted the roles played by the American security services, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE in lifting the sanctions.

He said that the US decision stipulated obligations that Sudan must abide by in order to continue lifting the sanctions, including achieving peace, human rights, and cooperating to achieve the priorities of the USA.

El Mahdi stressed that Sudan will remain on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, will be denied any US aid, and the ban on military exports will continue.

He pointed out that “no US ambassador will be appointed in Sudan unless these situations are addressed”.

ICC

He pointed to the close link between Sudan's name remaining in the list of states sponsoring terrorism and the (outstanding warrants for President Omar Al Bashir by the) International Criminal Court.

El Mahdi ridiculed the statements by officials that lifting the sanctions will lead to the flow of remittances and pointed to the large difference between the exchange rate in the banks and that at of the parallel market.

El Mahdi: “As Darfur is witnessing sharp tribal conflicts, organising a campaign of reconciliation between the tribes should be a first priority.”

El Mahdi criticised the way in which the campaign of weapons collection was carried out in Darfur and expected limited success for the campaign. He said that “the campaign should have been preceded by expansion of consultation and convening of a national council to try the best ways to collect weapons” but was “confined to the regime supporters”.

He said that “as Darfur is witnessing sharp tribal conflicts, organising a campaign of reconciliation between the tribes should be a first priority”.

The NUP presidentpointed out that the tribes will not hand-over their weapons unless reconciliation is achieved, and pointed to the important role that can be played by the native administrations that faced accusation and suspicion.

He accused the government of distributing weapons without controls in a random manner which led to the current complexities.

He downplayed the feasibility of collection of weapons in places neighbouring areas where there are armed enemies.

‘Partisan militia’

El Mahdi added that the government relies on “partisan militia” forces that must be included in the collection of weapons.

He appealed to the Revolutionary Front to address the issues of injustice and marginalisation within the framework of broad Sudan, which ends the grievances and not through self-determination and called for non-violence as a new means to dismantle the regime.

He called on the militants to keep their arms until the realisation of comprehensive peace.

Nuba Mountains Conference

El Mahdi said that the move in the style of soft force finds regional and international support and revealed his efforts to convince everyone with this trend.

He expressed concern at the statement by the Nuba Mountains Conference, if it is true, that the Nuba Mountains Conference did not confirm the promises of commitment to Sudan Appeal, left no room for healing the rift in the movement and did not renew the commitment to the road map as expected, but insisted on self-determination.