US applies 'carrot and stick' policy to bring Sudanese factions to negotiating table (News analysis by Mohamed Osman, PANA correspondent)
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Senior US State Department officials have embarked on hectic meetings with Sudanese stakeholders to resolve the raging crisis in the East African country.
This is at a time political and security developments on the ground are moving fast, even though a robust meeting of the "Friends of Sudan", a group of Western and Arab states, concluded with a call for Sudanese to calm down and work for building of trust.
However, on the ground protests have continued amidst bloody government crackdowns.
The US Assistant Secretary of State, Molly Phee and newly appointed Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, David Satterfield, are presently in Khartoum as part of their tour that has included Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Ethiopia from 17 to 20 January.
The US officials took part in the meeting of the "Friends of Sudan" which was convened in Saudi Arabia two days ago with the US special Envoy, Satterfield, stressing that international support to United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) was “urgent and essential” as it facilitates an inclusive dialogue that restores Sudan’s civilian-led transition to democracy.
The American Special Envoy met in Khartoum with members of the opposition group, the Sudanese Professionals Association, who are playing a major role in the current protests calling for return to full civilian government in the country.
He also met with former Cabinet Minister Khalid Omar, and some families who have lost their loved ones during the recent demonstrations in Khartoum which have claimed more than 70 lives and thousands injured.
The US official is quoted as stressing in all these meetings that “violence against protesters must stop”.
His remarks come a few hours before a scheduled protest march on Thursday in Khartoum and other areas, dubbed “the one million people march”.
The marches again raise the spectre of possible confrontation with security and riot control police in Khartoum where the Sudanese top military leader-cum-chair of the Sovereign Council, Lt Gen Abdul Fatah Al Burhan, adopted two draconian measures: immunity for security personal who deal with all types of unrest in the country, and a creation of new forces to handle terrorism threats and other menace for the national security.
The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) Central Committee met on Wednesday evening with the visiting US official who quoted them as saying they expressed “their positive engagement with UNITAMS-facilitated consultations”.
However, at the time they were engaged in a meeting with the US official, their spokesman, Wagdi Salih, was describing government officials as “criminals” and that the FFC would not stop demonstrations and would not talk with the military until the pre-October 25th situation was restored. The military staged a coup on 25 October 2021 ousting the Prime Minister and dissolving the civilian cabinet.
Khaled Omar Youssef , Member of the Political Bureau of the Sudanese Congress Party, tweeted that he had held “a fruitful meeting” with the visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee, US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa David Satterfield and the US Embassy staff in Khartoum on the developments of the current Sudanese and regional situation.
While the main opposition is adamant that they would not sit with the military at one table unless the military renounces the October 25 coup and its consequences, the military have taken a further step away, naming a caretaker government to run the country until the convening of the general elections in the country.
Friends of the Sudan has hinted that the best option for a way out is to revisit the “Constitutional Document” and the “Juba Peace Agreement”.
The constitutional document was reached in 2019 between the military and the civilian led forces that brought down the rule of President Omar Bashir (1989-2019). It created a hybrid government in which the army and the civilians share power during the interim period. Now this document is overtaken by developments on the ground.
The Juba Peace Agreement is a document concluded between the Khartoum government and the many rebel factions in Darfur and in the Blue Nile region.
But it failed to bring in two major movements in Nuba Mountains, southwest of Khartoum, known as the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North. It is led by veteran rebel leader Abdul Azia Hilo. It has control over a vast mineral rich mountainous area of Nuba Mountain, with forces that are well versed in harsh terrain fighting and an open retreat in South Sudan.
The second is the Darfur rebel movement, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA/M) led by Abdul Wahid Nour. This movement draws its strength from the huge support it has among the over 5 million refugee and internally displaced persons in Darfur.
For the two movements to join the peace process in the Sudan, the Juba agreement has to be reopened again.
Before arriving to Khartoum the US administration issued a statement saying the two officials have very clear mandate “Their message will be clear: the United States is committed to freedom, peace, and justice for the Sudanese people.”
With views as wide as the far flung corners of the country, the visit of the American senior officials is strongly believed to be serving stick and carrot to lure the various parties to the talks.
-0- PANA MO/MA 20Jan2022
