Sudanese Foreign Minister: AU office to reopen in Port Sudan shortly
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan on Friday said the African Union Representative will shortly reopen his office in Port Sudan; the administrative capital war drove the government to use in place of Khartoum, the national capital.
Observers note that this move hints that the AU is about to reconsider its decision of suspending and isolating the Sudan from AU activities and membership as a result of the October 2022 coup, labeled by the Sudanese government as a corrective movement.
African Union Peace and Security Council has a standing decision that any coup anywhere in Africa would mean suspending the membership until democracy has been restored.
Dr. Ali Youssef, the newly appointed Foreign Minister, and a veteran diplomat, took to visiting all African countries neighbouring his country, in his first two weeks in office.
He went to Egypt, then to Ethiopia, Congo and Rwanda, trying to mend the fences with those countries.
He is also planning visits to each of Chad and Central African Republic.
Dr. Youssef met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the AU Commissioner, Moussa Faki.
Al Mohagg (the investigator) news website specialized in government news, on Friday reported that Minister Youssef had described his recent meeting with the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, which took place on the sidelines of his visit to Addis Ababa last week, as “positive.”
He indicated in a statement to the said news website that his meeting with Faki discussed Sudan’s relations with the African Union as one of the founding members of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now AU, and indicated that Faki confirmed that the suspension of Sudan’s membership following what happened in October 2021 was a suspension of Sudan’s participation in the Union’s activities, not the membership, and that the decision was taken by the African Peace and Security Council, which has the right to issue a decision to the contrary.
He said this is to be seen within the” positive developments in issues related to achieving peace and forming a civilian government.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs added: "We confirmed to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission that Sudan, despite its preoccupation with the current war, is committed to peace realization efforts based on the principles and foundations of the Jeddah Declaration.
He said he had emphasized to the AU Commissioner that Sudan was “very keen to return to the African Union” fold.
The Minister was further quoted as confirming that the efforts will continue until Sudan returns to its normal position within the African Union.
He revealed that “the African Union Office will resume its activities soon from the administrative capital, Port Sudan, and the Director of the Office, Ambassador "Mohamed Belaish", will soon be in Port Sudan.”
The Minister confirmed that the coming period will witness the reactivation and development of Sudan's relations with neighboring countries, revealing that this has started by several meetings he held on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the Lakes Organization in Luanda, where he met with his Kenyan counterpart and it was agreed to strive seriously to remove everything that negatively affects the existence of good relations between Sudan and Kenya and restore relations to their normal state.
He said the two sides had agreed to exchange visits between ministers and heads of state during the coming period.
The news website also quoted the minister as underlining that his meeting with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, ambassador Youssef confirmed that a number of files and issues between the two countries were discussed and addressed.
He revealed that an agreement was reached between the two parties regarding the release of (62) Ethiopian customs officers who were detained in Sudan, where they were released and handed over to the Ethiopian authorities on the border.
He added that the borders between the two countries were opened, in addition to addressing many pending issues, with full confirmation of the return of relations to normal.
Dr. Youssef added: “The Ethiopian Foreign Minister was invited to visit Port Sudan, and the visit will take place at the earliest possible opportunity,” noting that Sudan was keen on positive and good relations with Ethiopia.
The Sudanese minister has meanwhile added that the coming period will witness action to create good neighbourly relations with Chad and the Central African Republic.
-0-PANA MO/RA 29Nov2024
