Al-Burhan snubs East African Summit in new setback of talks
The chairperson of the Sudan Sovereign Council, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, rejected IGAD’s invitation to the East African summit to mediate the ongoing conflict in Sudan.
In a statement seen by The City Review on Sunday, Al-Burhan criticised the United Nations for its communication with the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, popularly known as Hemedti.
Al-Burhan refused to attend the summit, while Daglo announced his approval of the invitation.
He reaffirmed that Sudan’s response to regional mediation does not mean they cannot solve their internal problems.
“We renew our affirmation that what is happening in Sudan is an internal matter and that our response to regional initiatives does not mean giving up our sovereign right to solve the Sudanese problem,” Al-Burhan said.
“We continue to deal positively with all initiatives, especially IGAD’s efforts to reach peace in Sudan,” he stated
He added, “However, IGAD did not commit to implementing the outcomes of the last summit in Djibouti by meeting with the head of the Sovereignty Council and the leader of the rebellion and did not provide a convincing justification for cancelling the meeting that IGAD called for on December 28, 2023, under the pretext [that] the rebel leader was unable to attend for technical reasons while he was touring several IGAD countries on the same date.”
He said Sudan’s government could not participate in another summit when the results of the previous summit were not implemented.
“The Sudanese government believes that there is no need to hold a summit to discuss Sudan before implementing the outcomes of the previous summit,” he said.
On his part, Dagalo accepted the invitation, saying that he is fully committed to attending the summit.
“In line with our firm position in support of a comprehensive peaceful solution, which ends once and for all the wars in Sudan in general and the April 15 war in particular, today I confirmed my acceptance of the invitation to attend and participate,” he noted.
Dagalo remained in the shadows during the first nine months of the conflict, until he finally signed a declaration with civilians and undertook an African tour during which he searched for international legitimacy to resolve his battle with the army.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) invited Al-Burhan and Dagalo to a summit to be held on January 18, 2023, in Uganda, following consultations with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to discuss the Sudanese conflict.
The commission has previously made several attempts to bring the viewpoints of the warring parties together but has not yielded any results.
According to the statement, the African Union and international partners will also be invited to participate in the summit.
The participants will also discuss the Ethiopia-Somalia dispute and try to find a way to resolve it peacefully.
The dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia over Somaliland, a breakaway region that declared independence in 1991. Ethiopia signed a controversial agreement with Somaliland on January 1, 2023, that would allow Ethiopia to use the Somaliland port. This agreement has raised concerns in the region and internationally.
