‘Sudan Eastern Front to dismiss leaders’: spokesman

The Eastern Front leadership has demanded the dismissal of several Front leaders, including Sudan’s first Vice-President, the Presidential Assistant, and several State Ministers in a memorandum. The Front’s demobilised forces stated to have withdrawn their trust from the leaders. These are Lt. Col. Bakri Hassan Saleh (first Vice-President), Musa Mohamed Ahmed, (presidential assistant), Mabrouk Mubarak Salim (State Minister of Animal Resources), and Amna Dirar (State Minister of Human Resources). Omar Hashem, the spokesman for the alliance of eastern Sudanese opposition groups, told Radio Dabanga that they raised the memorandum against the backdrop of the disregard of these leaders for the concerns of the Front’s members. “These leaders are running behind their own interests. They represent only themselves,” he said. Hashem, also chairman of the Eastern Front committee in Red Sea state, announced campaigns last month to withdraw confidence from the leaders. Hashem added that the memorandum further called for a consultative conference to evaluate the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement (ESPA). It also demanded the formation of a group of the demobilised forces to review the Eastern Sudan Reconstruction and Development Fund and the security arrangements. The Eastern Front, including the Beja Congress, signed the ESPA with the Sudanese government in October 2006. The ESPA stipulates the integration of former Beja Congress fighters into civil and military services. As a result, three Eastern Front leaders were appointed as Assistant to the President. File photo: Eastern Front troop commander with his men, the symbol of the Beja Congress behind them, 2007 (Christopher Milner/Pulitzercenter.org) Related: ‘Ruling party hampers eastern Sudan peace accord’ (21 September 2014) Eastern Sudan ex-combatants ‘lose confidence’ in leaders (19 September 2014)