Sudanese Armed Forces call for ‘new political structure’ amid war
Sudan's General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan salutes as he listens to the national anthem after landing in the military airport of Port Sudan on his first trip away following the crisis in Sudan's capital Khartoum since an internal conflict broke out, in the city of Port Sudan, Sudan, August 27, 2023. REUTERS/Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak/File Photo
In a message marking the Islamic holy day of Eid Al Adha on the 27th of May, Sudan’s army chief General Abdel Fattah al Burhan announced the country’s military-aligned government intends to create a “comprehensive political dialogue.”
According to The National, Al Burhan anticipates that this initiative will lay the foundations for a “new political structure” in Sudan, a nation destroyed by a civil war that has raged since April 2023.
Al Burhan opposes his former ally turned rival, General Mohamed Dagalo, the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF staged a coup that toppled the government in charge of Sudan’s democratic transition after the removal of dictator Omar Al-Bashir in 2019.
The Sudanese civil war has now entered its 4th year, killing thousands and displacing more than 12 million people, while 20 million face daily hunger.
“The government of Sudan will issue invitations to all national forces, excluding those whose hands are dripping with the blood of the Sudanese people, and will commit to making available everything that will help the dialogue succeed and its resolutions implemented,” Al Burhan said.
His Eid message seems to suggest that RSF representatives and those of pro-democracy alliances based outside Sudan would not participate in this new dialogue. Al Burhan is also opposed to international and foreign initiatives, stating “I emphasise that the Sudanese people will not accept the outcome of conferences and dialogues held in foreign capitals… and will not accept solutions or dictations… stemming from the agendas of foreign nations.”
External influence from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, among others, as well as procured weapons, has sustained the Sudanese civil war for the past years, facilitating both the SAF and the RSF. The resource-heavy country draws attention to the extraction potential by foreign states, creating a battlefield riddled with violence. The RSF and its allies control parts of neighbouring Kordofan region and the southern Blue Nile state, while the army holds the rest of the country, including the capital Khartoum. Both generals and organisations have been accused of war crimes.
The National, Maghrebi.org
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