General al-Burhan shakes hands with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa on Nov 15, 2023
Sudan’s Sovereign Council Chairman Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan travelled to Ethiopia on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing crisis in his country with Ethiopian Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy and African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki.
Al-Burhan’s visit to Addis Ababa follows his recent trip to Nairobi, where he met with Kenyan President William Ruto, who is also the Chairman of the IGAD Quartet Committee on the Sudanese crisis. The two leaders agreed to hold a summit of IGAD leaders to address the situation in Sudan.
In a statement after his return from Addis Ababa, Sudan’s Sovereign Council said that Al-Burhan and Abiy discussed the repercussions of the conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, which erupted last April.
“The Chairman of the Sovereign Council briefed the Ethiopian Prime Minister on the efforts made by the Sudanese government to cease fire, end the war and bring peace to Sudan,” the statement said. “He further reiterated the government’s cooperation with all initiatives to find solutions to this crisis that Sudan is going through.”
In a brief statement on Twitter, Abiy said he welcomed al-Burhan’s visit “for discussions on key current issues” without providing further details.
Al-Burhan was accompanied by Darfur Governor Minni Minawi and the head of Sudan’s General Intelligence Service. This marks the second time that Minawi has travelled with al-Burhan to meet with African leaders to discuss the Sudanese crisis, which has recently been marred by violence in Darfur.
During his meeting with Faki, al-Burhan discussed the situation in Sudan and the efforts being made to resolve the crisis, according to the Sovereign Council statement.
The statement added that al-Burhan briefed Faki on the situation in Sudan and emphasized the government’s determination and cooperation with all initiatives proposed to address the issue.
The African Union is working with IGAD to launch an inclusive process to resolve Sudan’s crisis once a durable ceasefire agreement is reached under the Jeddah platform.
Al-Burhan’s visits to Nairobi and Addis Ababa have been met with positive reactions from many Sudanese, who see them as a sign of progress towards ending the war.
In a commentary published on Sudan Tribune, a leading figure of the Forces for Freedom and Change Yasir Arman urged al-Burhan to work with African leaders to unite the various initiatives to end the war, address the country’s humanitarian crises and gross human rights violations, and rebuild Sudan on democratic foundations, including establishing a single professional army. Power should then be handed over to a civilian transitional government, he stressed.
Arman also warned al-Burhan against using these visits to buy time and continue the war, saying, “This will only lead to adding a new record of failure to its previous failure in the coup (of October 25, 2012) and war.”
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