Sudan FA Ministry disavowal of IGAD communiqué ‘raises eyebrows’

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs remarks on the communiqué of the IGAD emergency summit have “raised eyebrows” among political commentators, Dabanga correspondent Ashraf Abdelaziz wrote in his analysis yesterday. “Many are asking themselves if the president of the Sovereign Council and commander-in-chief of the army, Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, as well as FA Minister Ali El Sadig, were actually present.” 

In the extraordinary assembly session on the situation in Sudan that took place in Djibouti on Saturday, the member states of the Horn of Africa Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) agreed to redouble efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to the ongoing war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). 

Rival leaders El Burhan and RSF commander Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo reportedly agreed to a one-to-one meeting within 15 days. The IGAD members promised to support a civilian-led political process that will move Sudan “to a viable, civil democratic rule.” 

Hours after the communiqué was released on Saturday, the FA Ministry issued a statement denying El Burhan’s agreement to meet with Hemedti without conditions. 

The statement said that the communique “was not based on consensus nor legally binding.” Also, the Sudan government’s protests against the participation of the UAE Minister of State in the summit “were not included.” 

According to the statement of the FA Ministry, “the president of the Sovereignty Council agreed to meet [with Hemedti] on the conditions of establishing a permanent ceasefire, the departure of the [RSF] rebel forces from the capital Khartoum, and their assembly in areas outside it.”  

Former diplomat El Sadig El Maqli considered what happened as a departure from all diplomatic norms recognised in international forums. He told Radio Dabanga that “this summit was not an ordinary summit and was held at the request of El Burhan.” 

“The mistake is that the FA minister and the Sudanese ambassador to Djibouti left before the finalisation of the communiqué.” The fact that they failed to make any reservations until they arrived back in Sudan “is a downfall for Sudanese diplomacy,” El Maqli said. 

‘Completely confusing’ 

Political analyst Mohamed Lateef told Radio Dabanga that he was “flabbergasted.” The statement contradicts most of what was agreed on in Djibouti and is devoid of any diplomacy, he said. 

“We all know that this summit came at the request of the Sudanese government, when El Burhan visited Nairobi, despite his former resistance against Kenya’s chairmanship of the IGAD Quartet on Sudan.” In a joint statement released after the meeting in Nairobi, El Burhan and Kenyan President William Ruto agreed to work towards convening an urgent IGAD Summit to find ways to accelerate the Jeddah process towards cessation of hostilities in Sudan. 

Lateef noted a contradiction between words and actions. “When you ask someone to play the role of mediator, you must take into account that they will listen to both parties. You cannot expect the discussion to go your way without the presence of the other party.” 

“As for Sudan’s protest against the presence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, I expected the Sudanese FA Ministry to welcome the presence of a representative of the UAE,” said Lateef. “As the Sudanese government claims, the Emirates are involved in the Sudanese crisis because they supply weapons to the RSF.”

The Sudanese FA Ministry summoned Badriya El Shehhi, the deputy chargé d’affaires of the UAE Embassy in Port Sudan on Sunday to inform her of the Sudanese government’s decision to declare 15 diplomats working at the embassy as persona non grata.

“On thing is clear: The situation is completely confusing,” he said. “What does the Sudan Armed Forces gain from stalling? The reality today is that El Burhan is losing more every day, not only at the military level, but also at the economic, political, human, and security level. What is he going to do with this time that he is trying to buy with this step?”  

The political analyst asserted that the dissolved National Congress Party (NCP) of ousted President Al Bashir “still controls all the joints of the state. They have only one goal, to continue the war until its supporters find a foothold in the next political scene.” 

‘Last chance’ 

Aisha El Basri, researcher at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and former UNAMID spokesperson in Darfur, confirmed to Radio Dabanga that Hemedti “does not seem to be in a hurry to enter a dialogue with the Sudanese army or any other party to stop the war.” 

El Basri substantiated her opinion by saying that Hemedti sent two “non-reassuring” letters to the IGAD summit in Djibouti, which he did not attend. An RSF delegation travelled to Djibouti to discuss the situation with IGAD heads of state on the margins of the summit. 

In the first message, he apologised for being unable to attend. The second message was a list of conditions he set for the Sudanese army to negotiate, “which the Sudanese army found difficult to accept,” according to El Basri. 

Hemedti’s conditions include the establishment of a single new and professional national army and a civilian-led transitional government. He also stressed the need to arrest members of the Al Bashir regime who escaped from prison after the war broke out in mid-April. As a confidence-building measure, the negotiations should also include political parties, including revolutionary forces and military parties, apart from affiliates of the NCP and the Islamic Movement. 

El Basri said that these conditions may be considered impossible by the army. The balance of power has become “somewhat tilted” in favour of Hemedti. 

“The RSF seems to be negotiating from a position of strength after it is about to control all five states of Darfur.” She warned that the IGAD summit may be the last chance for peaceful negotiations. 

Civilian parties 

Sudanese political parties and groups, civil society organisations, and rebel movements all welcomed the outcomes of the IGAD summit in Djibouti on Saturday. 

The Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council welcomed the outcomes of the IGAD summit and the agreement of El Burhan and Hemedti to meet in person.  

The FFC-CC called on the warring parties to listen to the voice of reason and to align themselves with the desires of the Sudanese people to achieve peace and stability and “protect the homeland from the dangers of total chaos and division.” 

The Democratic Civil Forces, also known as Tagaddum (progress in Arabic) also known as Tagaddum, a newly established coalition of political parties, professional groups, and civil society organisations concerned with stopping the war and the building of a new, democratic Sudan, called for the restoration of the path of peace, freedom and justice, a newly established coalition concerned with stopping the war and the building of a democratic Sudan. 

It welcomed the outcomes in a statement yesterday and its support for the commitments made by the Sudan army and the RSF to agree on an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, “which paves the way for choosing the path of peaceful solutions and avoiding the intensification of armed confrontations that have cost the country a horrific humanitarian cost and destroyed its economy and infrastructure.” 

Tagaddum denounced the statement of the FA Ministry, “which confirms the kidnapping of the Sudanese state by the remnants of the former [Al Bashir] regime and proves their relentless pursuit to return to power over the corpses and blood of the Sudanese people.”  

Former PM Abdallah Hamdok (2019-2021), chair of the Democratic Civil Forces (Tagaddum), met with Salva Kiir, president of South Sudan, on Friday to discuss its six-step roadmap to end the war.