Calls for the international community to act and restart Saudi-US Jeddah process is a total abdication by Africa. AU & IGAD are ignoring starving Sudanese

FAMINE has arrived in Sudan. 5 million Sudanese are a step away from famine. Some experts predict 2.5 million could die within weeks. Millions of civilians in Sudan who fled for their lives ended up in such bad situations in South Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt some had to return to Sudan while others were so hungry they ate leaves and ants. 800,000 lives are at stake in Al Fasher, North Darfur a place the UN calls "Hell on Earth" and where Hemeti plans to build his dream city. The continent of Africa comprising 54 countries is huge and rich. The leaders of the AU and IGAD are either bone idle lazy or corrupt barbarians or both. Here is a shocking Statement by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, 7 June 2024. It shows that millions of Sudanese people are being left to die.

Photo: The Chairperson of the Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat (Credit AUC)

Not a shred of indication that the AU is prepared to play a more active role in ending the conflict inside a member state that risks drawing in many more members. Calls for the international community to act and restart of Saudi-US Jeddah process is a total abdication by Africa. https://t.co/3rAMzJmHwb

— Cameron Hudson (@_hudsonc) June 7, 2024

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Save Darfur. Save Sudan. Conflict and Humanitarian Emergency in Sudan: An Urgent Call to Action.

US Department of State Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Sudan today, Wednesday, May 1 2024. Click here to watch it on video. 

This is a copy of the statement of U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello:

Statement of
Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello
U.S. Department of State
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
“Conflict and Humanitarian Emergency in Sudan: An Urgent Call to Action” 

May 1, 2024

Chairman Cardin, Ranking Member Risch, I thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the horrific crisis in Sudan. I also want to thank this Committee for your untiring and vital advocacy for the people of Sudan over many years, and particularly since this tragic war began last April.

As this Committee well knows, the war and humanitarian crisis in Sudan are already catastrophic. Worse yet, the most likely trajectory forward is towards famine, fighting that takes on increasingly ethnic and regional aspects, and the possibility of a failed state of 50 million people on the strategic eastern gateway to the Sahel. For the past year, the people of Sudan have suffered death, crimes against humanity, sexual violence and starvation as a weapon of war, and ethnic cleansing. More than 8 million Sudanese people have been displaced– more than if every resident of Maryland and Idaho combined was forced from their homes, 3 million children – approximately one in eight children – have fled violence since mid-April, making it the world’s largest child displacement crisis. 25 million people are in need of basic food and medicine with 4.9 million of those people on the verge of famine. This brutal war is having a disproportionate impact on women and girls, who both parties have subjected to ongoing atrocities, including rape and conflict-related sexual violence.

The scale of the suffering is shocking. Beyond each of those statistics are human beings, like the woman I met who had recently escaped Darfur. She described the horrors committed against her by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and then being re-traumatized when she got to a neighboring country. Sadly this is all too common. Yet the world has treated Sudan as an invisible crisis, rarely covered in the world press. While much of the world turns a blind eye to this crisis, the Sudanese that I’ve met – including women and youth - have let me know how much they notice the statements and speeches Chairman Cardin and Ranking Member Risch have made. I appreciate that Senator Booker led a recent delegation to witness first-hand the scale and stark conditions of refugees flooding into Chad from Darfur. When these women and children – too many with bone-thin arms and thousand-yard stares – were asked at the border why they had fled, the answer repeatedly was simple – “food.”

Food insecurity and malnutrition have reached alarming levels across Sudan, driven by conflict and blockage of humanitarian aid. Nearly 18 million people in Sudan faced acute food insecurity, with nearly 5 million people on the brink of famine. According to the latest data from February, nearly 3 million children in Sudan are acutely malnourished. A woman carrying her baby of 7 months said to me, “this Ramadan, we’ve had more iftars with no food than with food.”. Absent a change in humanitarian access and flow of aid, conditions are expected to worsen with the imminent arrival of the ‘lean season’ which lasts through the summer. Sudan is on the verge of famine, due to blatant and systematic violations by both SAF and RSF of international humanitarian law. Amidst this fragility, the SAF made the unconscionable decision earlier this year to block, disrupt, and limit humanitarian aid in a way that has made it impossible to meet the scale and urgency of hunger facing the Sudanese people.

But even in areas without major limits on humanitarian access, like the refugee camps in Chad, resources have fallen painfully short. The World Food Program (WFP) had cut daily rations to 30 percent below recommended levels in case no new funding arrived. For this reason, the decision of this Congress to pass supplemental humanitarian funding earlier this month was truly a lifesaving decision for many Sudanese. The United States has now committed over $1 billion in food, medicine, and other humanitarian aid since the war began, and I hope that the media will let more Americans see how their generosity is helping some of the world’s most vulnerable people. However, much work remains to mitigate famine, including pressure to translate donor pledges into results on the ground and escalating pressure on both the SAF and RSF to allow unconditional, safe and sustained cross border and crossline delivery of aid in accordance with international humanitarian law.

While humanitarian aid is vital, the hundreds of Sudanese with whom I have met have spoken with one voice on this fact – the only true solution to the humanitarian crisis and human suffering is to end this war, and that is my top priority as the U.S. Special Envoy. While two armed factions launched this conflict, this is less a civil war between two sides than a war which two generals and their affiliates are waging against the Sudanese people and their aspirations to a free and democratic future. Let’s be clear: the RSF and its leadership are rooted in the Janjaweed militias who committed genocide and widespread crimes against humanity. They have conducted this war with unspeakable brutality, including through ethnic cleansing of the Masalit, sexual violence as a weapon of war, and torching whole villages. Any external actor providing support to the RSF cannot claim ignorance of its past or on-going atrocities.

In December, Secretary Blinken determined that the SAF and the RSF have committed war crimes, and that the RSF and allied militia have also committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The SAF bombed civilian areas, and now proactively interferes with humanitarian operations, repeatedly refusing the flow of lifesaving food and medicine in direct violation of international humanitarian law. The Biden Administration has also issued OFAC sanctions against SAF and RSF targets, as well as entities responsible for supporting these violations.

In a moment, I’ll share why I believe that a peace deal could be on the horizon, but first, let me be crystal clear that there is undeniable momentum now for this crisis to get much worse. A two-sided war is in danger of factionalizing, with more ethnic militias moving from neutrality to combatants. Many of these groups have populations that overlap with neighboring countries, increasing the chances of this becoming a regional war. We see credible reports about the growing number of negative actors, including Islamists and former regime officials, and a rise in hate speech and polarization. The current battle over El Fasher in North Darfur could eliminate one of the last semi- safe civilian havens in western Sudan and produce a flood of new refugees. The possibility of famine and a fractured state is real, and we are communicating that with urgency from the highest levels of our government to those who have leverage to end this war. As Secretary Blinken said in his April 13 video message to the Sudanese people, “more fighting cannot, and will not, end this conflict.”

Let me summarize three of our lines of effort focused on ending the war.

We have elevated and focused U.S. leadership on Sudan across the inter-agency. This has included repeated engagement by Secretary Blinken, and tremendous support from the Department’s

African and Near Eastern affairs bureaus, and tireless support from our Embassies for a ten-week sprint of shuttle diplomacy. We have also seen Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield publicly and consistently pursue Sudan as one of her top three priorities and push the United Nations Security Council to call for a Ramadan ceasefire. The U.S. Department of Treasury is playing a crucial role on expanding sanctions and ensuring consequences for those committing atrocities and spoiling the peace, including through the imposition of sanctions against perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict, implementing the Presidential Memorandum to Promote Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence. USAID, along with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), has been a key partner in tenaciously advocating for humanitarian access, aiding Sudanese pro-democracy and civil society groups to continue organizing in their communities, and supporting courageous youth who continue to find innovative ways to deliver food and medicine at great risk.

Second, we have focused our strategy on building and aligning sufficient political will in the region to compel a peace deal consistent with the aspirations of the Sudanese people. Over recent months, we have made clear to regional and European counterparts that Sudan now represents not only a humanitarian and human rights crisis but also a threat to regional and Europe’s stability. We expect all actors, even those previously playing a negative role, to now be partners in a peace deal to prioritize stability over a failed state that would have consequences for the broader region for a decade or more. This is reflected by – but not limited to – a commitment to new peace talks in the coming weeks. These talks will be (1) inclusive of key African and Arab regional leaders, (2) focused on aligning external political will, and (3) designed to produce a comprehensive cessation of hostilities. We expect all partners, even those who have previously fueled the conflict, to understand that the United States government now expects them to be partners in peace.

While this revised formulation of the Jeddah platform represents our best opportunity for formal talks, I have been clear publicly and privately that we are not waiting for Jeddah talks to resume to negotiate an end to this war. We are actively engaged in it every day, with every meeting and every signal sent. In this effort, I want to thank so many of our African partners, the United Nations, and the African Union who are leading efforts to create greater global consensus and urgency for compelling a deal.

Third, we are continuing to raise the costs of those conducting and fueling this war. We are engaged directly with both fighting factions, including their top generals, to deter escalation and atrocities. We have led the world on sanctioning bad actors – both individuals and entities like banks that are enabling the atrocities – and have made clear our readiness to expand those sanctioned.

Finally, the greatest source of hope is the resilience and unity of the Sudanese people, and we continue to center and amplify their call not just for peace but for the restoration of their shared aspirations for a democratic future. They are united in wanting the war to end, full access to humanitarian aid, and a unified professional army under the authority of a civilian government. They do not want to see former corrupt regime officials or extremists use this war as a backdoor to power. In short, they want their future back – the future they so courageously began with the

overthrow of the authoritarian Bashir regime. That is the North Star of our policy - standing with the Sudanese people.

As we speak, Sudan faces two distinct but accelerating trajectories– one towards famine and possibly a failed state, and the second towards peace and a democratic future. The only two barriers to ending this war are, first, the political will of two Generals and those fueling this horrific war, and second the absence of enough political will by those of us who could compel a peace. Our North Star is the aspirations of the Sudanese people. Our path is building and aligning enough will in the region to silence the guns and restore the Constitutional transition. That path can be paved, but time is very much not on our side.

In closing, let me express my appreciation to this Committee for your support for the people of Sudan, for the mandate of the Special Envoy, and the light you shine on the crisis in Sudan. 

The Honorable Tom Perriello

U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan

U.S. Department of State

Washington, D.C.

DOWNLOAD TESTIMONY

END

Ali Karti, SG of Sudan’s Islamic Movement, widely seen as a mastermind of Sudan's war, has now announced a truce with RSF will never be accepted

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Dame Rosalind Marsden in the following analysis 'Sudan's forgotten war: A new diplomatic push is needed' says there needs to be a concerted diplomatic push at the highest level: "the aim must be to change the calculations of the generals and counter the influence of hard-line Islamists from the Bashir-era who are blocking negotiations. This requires pressing for a coordinated mediation process to prevent warring parties’ forum-shopping between mediation initiatives; targeting the financial flows and military supplies fuelling the war; and supporting efforts to unify those Sudanese working for the goal of democratic transition."

It is difficult to see why Dame Rosalind is recommending "a coordinated mediation process" as even she says "Ali Karti, the Secretary-General of Sudan’s Islamic Movement, who is widely seen as a mastermind of the war, has now announced that a truce with the RSF will never be accepted." 

Many Sudanese civilians online are saying they don't want Sudan to be led by Gen. Burhan and his Islamist regime nor by Hemeti and his terrorist militia. I've not seen a solution. Maybe the people could join hands in peace.

Note, in her analysis Dame Rosalind rightly publicises the Emergency Response Rooms, aka ERRs, by saying: "Donors will also have to step up to address the spiralling food crisis, by reducing the UN funding gap and supporting grassroots first responders in the Emergency Response Rooms.' 

______________________________

From Chatham House

EXPERT COMMENT
By Dame Rosalind Marsden

Associate Fellow, Africa Programme 

Email Rosalind  Twitter

Dated Thursday, 14 March 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Sudan’s forgotten war: A new diplomatic push is needed

After nearly a year of devastating conflict, there is little sign of a ceasefire. Concerted high-level international pressure is needed to change the calculations of the generals and support a democratic transition.

Image — People rally in Wad Madani, Sudan, in December 2023. 

(Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

On 8 March, the UN Security Council adopted a UK-drafted resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan during the month of Ramadan, a sustainable resolution to the conflict through dialogue, compliance with international humanitarian law and unhindered humanitarian access.

Eleven months into the war, this is the first time that the Council has been able to agree on a resolution. The mandate of the UN Panel of Experts that monitors the sanctions regime in Darfur was also renewed by the Council. Does this signify hope that efforts to end the war might gather momentum? Or is Sudan likely to face a protracted conflict?

The war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) led by General Abdel Fatah Al Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as ‘Hemedti’) is a competition for power and resources between rival factions of the regular armed forces.

But it is also rooted in Sudan’s long history of internal conflict, marginalization of the peripheries and lack of accountability for atrocity crimes. Both the SAF’s officer corps and the RSF are creations of former President Omer al-Bashir’s regime. 

Each has shown disregard for the lives of Sudanese civilians by waging war in densely populated urban areas. The scale of destruction is unprecedented in Sudan’s modern history.

With the world’s attention focused on Gaza and Ukraine, the war receives woefully little high-level political, parliamentary or international media attention, raising serious questions about double standards in dealing with global crises, particularly conflicts in Africa.

A humanitarian catastrophe

Sudan is suffering from a humanitarian disaster, with a looming famine and the world’s biggest displacement crisis: 8 million people are newly displaced inside or outside the country, in addition to over 3 million displaced by previous conflicts.

The head of the World Food Programme has warned that the war risks creating the world’s largest hunger crisis. Yet the UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan is only 4 per cent funded.

The conflict has the potential to destabilize already fragile neighbouring countries, create large new migration flows to Europe, and attract extremist groups.

Meanwhile, regional actors are fighting a proxy war in the country, giving military, financial and political support to the warring parties. 

The involvement of Russia and Iran has given the war a geopolitical dimension linked to Putin’s war in Ukraine – partly funded with Sudanese gold – and competition for influence on the Red Sea coast.

Food as a weapon of war

Both RSF and SAF forces have used hunger as a weapon of war. The RSF has looted humanitarian warehouses and besieged cities. 

The SAF-controlled Humanitarian Aid Commission has systematically withheld authorization for crossline movement of life-saving aid to RSF-controlled areas.

One limited outcome from recent international pressure has been the partial reversal of the SAF’s ban on cross-border humanitarian access from Chad into Darfur. The de facto SAF authorities in Port Sudan have agreed to open limited border crossings from Chad and South Sudan. However, MSF International have criticized this as a partial solution at best.

The UN will need to monitor implementation to ensure neutrality in the distribution of aid, while intensifying pressure for unhindered cross-border and crossline humanitarian access.

Donors will also have to step up to address the spiralling food crisis, by reducing the UN funding gap and supporting grassroots first responders in the Emergency Response Rooms.

Growing pressure for a cessation of hostilities

The fact that the UN Secretary-General, the UN Security Council, the African Union, and the League of Arab States joined forces to call for a Ramadan truce, represents a significant increase in pressure on the warring parties.

Nevertheless, Ramadan has started with further fierce fighting. It is unclear how the Security Council expected a truce to take effect without prior diplomatic engagement to agree an implementation and monitoring mechanism. 

Command and control is fragmented on both sides and the warring parties have failed to abide by previous temporary truces negotiated through the Saudi/US-sponsored Jeddah Platform.

Moreover, Sudan’s security state has no history of respecting the month of Ramadan: the current war began during the holy month on 15 April 2023, and peaceful protestors were brutally dispersed in Khartoum on 3 June 2019.

Burhan cautiously commended the Secretary-General’s proposal for a Ramadan truce, but the Islamist-controlled Ministry of Foreign Affairs and SAF’s General Yasir al Atta poured cold water on the idea by announcing a list of preconditions amounting to surrender by the RSF.

8 million

Number of newly displaced people as a result of the war in Sudan.

This response follows a familiar pattern: any indication by Burhan of readiness to negotiate is immediately negated by Islamist elements of the Bashir regime, who hope to return to power on the back of an SAF victory. 

Ali Karti, the Secretary-General of Sudan’s Islamic Movement, who is widely seen as a mastermind of the war, has now announced that a truce with the RSF will never be accepted.

Both sides still seem determined to gain the upper hand militarily. The SAF, hitherto on the back foot, has launched an offensive to regain lost territory in Omdurman and Gezira state, supported by Iranian drones, Islamist militias, the Special Operations Forces of the Bashir-era Intelligence Service, former Darfuri rebels and armed civilians. 

The RSF, whose human rights violations have alienated much of the population, welcomed the UN’s call for a truce, but are also engaged in recruitment, particularly among Arab tribes in Darfur.

The longer the war continues, the greater the risk that it will evolve into a full-scale ethnicized civil war, and that the country will be engulfed by famine.

A concerted diplomatic push

Concerted diplomacy at the highest level is therefore urgently needed. The aim must be to change the calculations of the generals and counter the influence of hard-line Islamists from the Bashir-era who are blocking negotiations.

This requires pressing for a coordinated mediation process to prevent warring parties’ forum-shopping between mediation initiatives; targeting the financial flows and military supplies fuelling the war; and supporting efforts to unify those Sudanese working for the goal of democratic transition.

Civilians are the main victims of the war and should be involved in each stage of any peace process. They, not the generals, should shape Sudan’s post-war transition. Those responsible for atrocities must be held accountable.  

There has been some recent evolution in regional dynamics. Egypt and the UAE, who have been backing opposite sides, co-facilitated RSF/SAF talks in Manama in January, alongside the US, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

There are also signs of a stronger international commitment to active diplomatic engagement. The AU has created a High-Level Panel on Sudan, while the US has appointed a dedicated Special Envoy. The Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General has been empowered by the Security Council to complement and coordinate regional peace efforts.

But a strong push is now needed to silence the guns and push the warring parties to resume talks under the Jeddah Platform, preferably in an expanded format. More visible, high-level political commitment is badly needed, if the conflict in Sudan is not to remain a forgotten war.

This article was produced with support from the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) research programme, funded by UK International Development. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies.

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Postscript from Sudan Watch Editor:

Dame Rosalind Marsden was the EU Special Representative for Sudan from September 2010 until October 2013. Before joining the EU, she had a long career in the British diplomatic service, including postings as Consul-General in Basra, British Ambassador to Sudan and British Ambassador to Afghanistan. 

She has also served as Head of the United Nations Department and Director (Asia-Pacific) in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. 

Earlier in her career she served twice in the British Embassy in Tokyo and spent two years on secondment to the private sector, working in the corporate finance department of an investment bank. 

She received her BA in Modern History from Somerville College, Oxford and her D.Phil from St Antony’s College, Oxford.

View original: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/03/sudans-forgotten-war-new-diplomatic-push-needed

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Related 

Chatham House - 18 December 2023 

How a transnational approach can better manage the conflict in Sudan

Approaching conflict as a national issue sidelines a complex web of transnational influences and threatens prospects for sustainable peace.

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/12/how-transnational-approach-can-better-manage-conflict-sudan

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UN News - 3 February 2024

Youth-led ‘emergency rooms’ shine rays of hope in war-torn Sudan

© ERR Emergency response rooms are finding innovative approaches to providing rapid assistance to millions facing war in Sudan. 

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146187

END

Sudan: Malik Agar explains his 3-day visit to S. Sudan

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Here is a copy of two reports by Mr Malik Agar Eyre, Deputy Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council. 

The reports, posted at X and date stamped Feb 14, 2024 are separated into short posts accompanied by photos taken using Mr Malik's phone. 

The reports are in full because news outlets (Sudan Tribune is one of the worst offenders) have a habit of stealing other people's work, rearranging words and passing it off as their own research and news without credits.

It is mean spirited and makes my blood boil. Professional journalists and writers spend hours researching, writing, editing, fact-checking and polishing their reports under strict guidelines. What's troubling is that news outlets take it upon themselves to twist words to suit their own agenda.

I've followed Sudan Tribune for 20 years. Not sure if it's still based in France. Its ex deputy editor in chief Wasil Ali@wasilalitaha is a prolific poster at X. 

He's quick witted and can be hilarious. 2 photos (pictured) on his page at X suit his cheeky, playful, irreverent, strong personality. Thanks for the laughs.

Wasil Ali@wasilalitaha

Also, below is a copy of Mr Malik Agar's bio at Wikipedia. Note, under the heading of 'Ideology' it says: "Agar rejects President Omar al-Bashir's vision of an Arab-Islamic state, and has argued instead for a multicultural civil democracy". I saw footage of Mr Agar walking to/from a plane during below mentioned trip, he appeared to have trouble walking like he was in pain.

_____________________

Post from X microblogging platform (formerly Twitter) split into 4 posts

By Malik Agar Eyre | مالك عقار اير @MalikAgarEyre 

Date stamped 5:56 PM · Feb 14, 2024 - here is a full copy, showing splits:

I went on an official working visit to the State of South Sudan on February 12, 2024 for the purpose of meeting with His Excellency the President of the Republic, Salva Kiir. The Minister of Finance, Dr. Jibril Ibrahim, accompanied me during the first meeting with the President, which touched on issues concerning the two countries. Our meeting was renewed this afternoon.  1/4

I gave him an explanation about the current military positions and explained to him the extent of the progress made by the armed forces and the specific strikes that the army carried out on the rebel forces.

In the conversation, we touched on the Sudanese position on regional initiatives from the African Union and IGAD 2/4

I explained to him the reasons for freezing our membership in IGAD, and he understood this position well. We also discussed the situation and the political movement that had occurred recently.

The talk about the Jeddah platform was at the end of the agenda of our meeting, and I assured the president that returning to the Jeddah platform is linked to the rebel forces implementing what was agreed upon. 3/4

From ending the occupation of citizens’ homes, among others. At the conclusion of the meeting, we renewed our commitment to resolving the problems of African countries within the African House. I renewed our confidence in the state of South Sudan and praised the treatment they received of the Sudanese coming from the war zones in Sudan.

May God protect Sudan and the people of Sudan 4/4

View original: https://twitter.com/MalikAgarEyre/status/1757826186254700549

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Post from X microblogging platform (formerly Twitter) split into 8 posts

By Malik Agar Eyre | مالك عقار اير @MalikAgarEyre 

Date stamped 7:51 PM · Feb 14, 2024 - here is a full copy, showing splits:

Today, my visit to the State of South Sudan, which lasted for three days, concluded with two separate meetings, the first meeting included a group of ambassadors and heads of missions of the Troika countries and the European Union in South Sudan 1/8

followed by another meeting that included African ambassadors in South Sudan and the representative of the African Union in South Sudan. As well as the Ambassador of Sudan in Juba, Jamal Malik 2/8

where a short film documenting the crimes and violations of the rebel Rapid Support Forces was presented, exposing the killings, rape of women, the ethnic targeting of citizens, the destruction of infrastructure and other violations in the long list of atrocities 3/8

committed by the rebel forces in violation of the international humanitarian law and the International human rights Law.

We’ve also touched on the stages of the development of the rapid support forces from the Janjaweed forces to support forces called 4/8

the border guards and then to rebel rapid support forces in 2023, and i assured them that the government of Sudan is open and working to alleviate the suffering of the Sudan and end the war in a way that preserves the country's sovereignty, unity and national security. 5/8

I’ve also stressed that it is not possible to talk about any political process under the bangs of cannons and bullets, and that the attempts made by some now are nothing but a shot outside the goal, which will not achieve any result, and 6/8

that the slogans of the rebel forces, that is bringing democracy and fighting Islamists have failed before the test of international humanitarian law and international human rights law through the series of violations committed by them in all the areas they entered in Sudan. 7/8

I concluded the meeting with alerting of the consequences of what will happen in the Horn of Africa region in the event of the collapse of Sudan and the details of the impact of such catastrophe on the entire region.

May God protect Sudan and the people of Sudan 8/8

View original: https://twitter.com/MalikAgarEyre/status/1757855209412264384

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HERE is a bio of Mr Malik Agar from Wikipedia Friday, 16 Feb 2024:

Malik Agar is a Sudanese politician and former insurgent leader who was active in the insurgency in Blue Nile state. Since 2023, he has been the deputy chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Sudan's ruling military junta.

Early life

Malik Agar was born Nganyofa Agar Eyre Nganyofa to an Ingessana chief in Blue Nile State. He did not know he was a Muslim until he was eight. His headteacher gave him the name "Malik" and told him he was a Muslim. From then on, he was called "Malik Agar Eyre"

Second Sudanese Civil War

Agar joined the Sudanese armed opposition shortly after the beginning of the Second Sudanese Civil War in 1983. 

In the 1990s, he was the commander of a section of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) military forces along the Ethiopia–Sudan border south of the Blue Nile to Geissan. SPLM units under his command captured the towns of Kurmuk and Qaissan in 1997.

Agar was close to John Garang, and shared his goal of overthrowing the Government of Sudan, as opposed to fighting for the secession of South Sudan. 

After Garang's death, Agar, along with others who shared a desire for a revolution in Sudan, were marginalised by the new SPLM leadership. Agar expressed his disapproval of the secession of South Sudan to a US official in 2009, stating that it would cause the eventual splintering of the rest of Sudan.

He was elected governor of Blue Nile State in the Republic of the Sudan in April 2010. Agar was one of the few high-profile members of the Sudanese opposition to run in the election, and was the only non-National Congress Party (NCP) candidate to win a governorship. Agar defeated the NCP candidate, Farah Ibrahim Mohamed Al-Aggar, by 108,119 to 99,417 votes.

In February 2011 Malik Agar also became chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North, the part of the SPLM that operates in northern Sudan. The southern portion of the SPLM became a separate political party in South Sudan when the country seceded from the Republic of Sudan in July 2011.

On 2 September, Agar was deposed as governor on the orders of President Omar al-Bashir. He fled to the southern part of the state and was reportedly planning a counterattack. He warned that the Sudan–SPLM conflict may ignite a wider Sudanese civil war.

In February 2012 Agar helped found the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF); a coalition of Sudanese opposition groups that aims to overthrow the Sudanese government and replace it with a democracy.^[4] In February 2012, Agar was elected president of the SRF.

On 2 February 2021, he was appointed as a member of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan.

Ideology

Agar rejects President Omar al-Bashir's vision of an Arab-Islamic state, and has argued instead for a multicultural civil democracy.

Read more, including references, at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malik_Agar

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Related

Radio Dabanga English website

South Sudan president discusses civil bloc outcomes with Minawi

Dated Wednesday, 14 February 2024. 14:29 JUBA - excerpts:

Consultative sessions aimed at reaching an end to the war in Sudan concluded in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, on Monday. In attendance were several Sudanese political and civil blocs, a delegation of which met with South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Monday. 

Moataz El Fahl, a leader in the Forces for Freedom and Change-Democratic Bloc (FFC-DB) and Secretary-General of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), told Dabanga in an interview that the meeting concluded with the “formation of a mini-mechanism for communication with the Sovereignty Council, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and other political and civil forces”. 

The meeting included several political and civil blocs, most notably the FFC-DB, the National Movement Forces coalition, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N Agar), led by Sovereignty Council Vice President Malik Agar.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit meets with a Sudanese delegation in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, on Monday (Photo: @ArkoMinawi via X)

Full story: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/south-sudan-president-discusses-civil-bloc-outcomes-with-minawi

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Sudan Watch - February 14, 2024

Darfur tribal leaders agree with Sudanese Sheikh Musa Hilal to lead initiative to stop war in Sudan

A civil delegation of tribal leaders in Darfur states announced that it has agreed with the head of the Revolutionary Awakening Council, Sheikh Musa Hilal, to lead a national initiative to stop the war between the army and the Rapid Support.

The delegation, which included the principals of the tribes of Tarjum, Fallata and Rizeigat and notables of a number of tribes in the states of South, East, Central and West Darfur, visited Sheikh Musa Hilal in the suburb of Mistriha in North Darfur state, and the delegation spent about a week during which he held several meetings with notables of the region.

Full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/02/darfur-tribal-leaders-agree-with.html

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