By Ahmed Satti
PORT SUDAN (AA) — Sudan on Saturday opted out of participating in an extraordinary summit organized by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), aimed at addressing the current crisis in the North African nation.
The Sudan Sovereignty Council released a statement revealing that the government had received an invitation from IGAD to attend the summit scheduled for Thursday in Uganda's capital Kampala.
The summit was intended to discuss the ongoing conflict in Sudan and the crises unfolding in Somalia and Ethiopia.
While the statement acknowledged IGAD's positive stance on peace efforts in Sudan, it asserted that the outcomes of the most recent summit in Djibouti were not put into effect.
Particular attention was drawn to a meeting planned for Dec. 28, between leaders of the conflicting army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group. The meeting, initially scheduled since mid-April 2023, was canceled.
The statement noted the Sudanese government's position that a new summit to discuss Sudan was unnecessary until the results of the previous summit were implemented. It was highlighted that the commander of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, had visited several IGAD countries on the same date.
Dagalo, for his part, said he accepted an invitation he received from IGAD to take part in the summit.
"In consistency with our firm position in support of a comprehensive, peaceful solution that ends, once and for all, the wars in Sudan in general, and the April 15 war in particular, I confirmed my acceptance of the invitation to attend and participate in the session," he said on X.
Sudan has been mired by fighting between the army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the country’s ruling Sovereign Council, and the RSF since April.
Several cease-fire agreements brokered by Saudi and US mediators have failed to end the violence.
The previous planned face-to-face meeting that was supposed to take place two weeks ago in Djibouti, under the sponsorship of IGAD, flopped as the RSF leader was meeting with Ugandan President, in his maiden high-profile diplomatic drive, since the ruinous war erupted 8months ago.
Throughout his charm offensive, Dagalo switched from the military fatigue to three-piece business suit with a matching neck-tie, in an attempt to present himself as a legitimate leader of Sudan on the international stage, irking Al Burhan, who maintains he is the authentic president of Sudan.
*Writing by Seda Sevencan, contributions by Hamza Kyeyune from Kampala, Uganda