Sudan’s PM embarks on peace mission to rebel stronghold

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Sudan’s PM embarks on peace mission to rebel stronghold

2020-01-10 01:24 Last Updated At：01:30

Sudan’s prime minister, accompanied by United Nations officials, embarked on a peace mission Thursday to a rebel stronghold, in a major step toward government efforts to end the country’s long-running civil conflicts.

A crowd of tens of thousands, including thousands of armed rebels, welcomed Abdalla Hamdok to the Nuba Mountain’s town of Kauda, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of the capital Khartoum, for a meeting with Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu, who leads the powerful faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement-North. Al-Hilu’s movement is Sudan’s single largest rebel group and is active in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan provinces, where it controls significant chunks of territory.

The SLM-N slaughtered two livestock as a sign of welcoming, and Hamdok crossed over one of them to “be blessed.”

The cheering crowd held Arabic- and English-language signs that represent the main demands of the SLM-N. One sign read: “We stand for the secular state or self determination.” Another read: “No for Sharia law in Sudan.”

The Sudanese prime minister arrived with five Cabinet ministers, the head of the U.N. World Food Programme and American, British and Norwegian diplomats.

Calling the visit “truly historical,” Hamdok said he hoped it would be a start to achieve sustainable peace in his country, and “to end the suffering of our people in these areas.”

“This is the start of the new Sudan,” he told The Associated Press. “Together, we will make miracles.”

Sudan’s transitional government has been engaging in peace talks with rebel groups since October, looking to stabilize the country and help its fragile path to democracy survive following the military’s overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir last April after nearly three decades in power.

Al-Hilu is calling for a secular state with no role for religion in lawmaking, the disbanding of all of al-Bashir’s militias and the re-vamping of the country’s military. His group says if its demands aren’t met, it will call for self-determination in areas it controls.

He said his group calls for addressing the “root causes” of the conflict in Sudan, including the relationship between religion and the state.

“You are free here in Kauda. The fundamental freedoms are fully respected here; whether freedom of belief, freedom of conscience or whatever freedoms provided that you do not trespass on the freedom of others,” al-Hilu said addressing the visiting officials.

The area has been stricken by poverty for years, but fighting barred aid groups from visiting. Thursday’s visit was just the second time since 2011 that the UN World Food Programme has been able to access the area. Aid workers were bringing with them supplies for a school feeding program that they say is a first step towards addressing dire hunger in Kauda and nearby communities.

“For the United Nations, this is the first time we are here in a very long time. We thank these two leaders (Hamdok and al-Hilu), for breaking down barriers and building up opportunities,” said David Beasley, WFP executive director.

He said the U.N. negotiations for humanitarian access have helped to re-establish the “trust and confidence" that are necessary "to create long-term peace in every area in Sudan.”

The visit to the area is also the first for senior Sudanese officials in more than nine years. It comes as the government and rebel leaders are also engaging in peace talks in South Sudan, which itself gained independence in 2011 and has been plagued by civil war in recent years.

“The visit is a major breakthrough. It sends a core message that we no longer deal with this armed movement as enemies,” said Information Minister Faisal Saleh. “We are brothers in one nation, who have political differences.”

Sudan’s new transitional government has six months to make peace with the country’s rebels under a power-sharing deal reached this summer following al-Bashir’s ouster. If they fail to do so, it could undermine the deal and put the country’s fragile transition in jeopardy.

The government and most of the rebels reached an agreement, dubbed the Declaration of Principles, in September. It detailed a road map for peace talks and extending a cease-fire in disputed areas.

The deal also envisaged trust-building measures by the government, such as granting humanitarian access to contested areas across the country, the release of war prisoners and dismissing sentences and charges against rebel leaders.

Sudanese rebels have for years fought al-Bashir’s loyalists, not just in Darfur but also in the southern provinces of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The rebels have observed a cease-fire since before al-Bashir’s overthrow, in solidarity with the protest movement against him.

World donors pledge $2.1 billion in aid for war-stricken Sudan to ward off famine

2024-04-16 08:41 Last Updated At：16:00

World donors pledged more than $2.1 billion in humanitarian aid for Sudan after a yearlong war that has pushed its population to the brink of famine, French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday.

Macron spoke at the end of an international conference in Paris aimed at drumming up support for Sudan’s 51 million people. The aid will go to food, water, medicines and other urgent needs, he said, without providing a specific timeline.

Top diplomatic envoys, U.N. officials and aid agencies urged Sudan’s warring parties to stop attacks on civilians and allow access for humanitarian aid, and called for immediate international mediation efforts toward peace. Members of Sudan’s civil society took part in the Paris meeting, but neither the Sudanese army nor its rival paramilitary were represented.

Sudan descended into conflict in April last year when simmering tensions between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere across the country.

“Much of the world has been focused on the crisis that was generated in the Middle East. As concerning as those developments are, other dramatic life-and-death emergencies are being pushed into the shadows,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told reporters after the Security Council met on Sudan on Monday.

“The world is forgetting about the people of Sudan,” he said.

The United Nations’ humanitarian campaign needs some $2.7 billion this year to get food, health care and other supplies to 24 million people in Sudan — nearly half its population. So far, funders have given only $145 million, about 5%, according to the U.N’s humanitarian office, known as OCHA.

After Monday's conference, Macron said, ‘’We are today at 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) for Sudan.'' Of that, some 900 million euros comes from EU countries, he said.

Monday's conference among 58 countries also called on regional powers to stop funding Sudan’s war. Without naming them, Macron said, ’’The amount we raised today remains probably less than all the money raised by several powers'' to wage a proxy conflict in Sudan.

More than 14,000 people have been killed and at least 33,000 have been wounded in the yearlong war. Nearly 9 million people have been forced to flee their homes either to safer areas inside Sudan or to neighboring countries, according to the U.N. Hunger, sexual violence against women and girls and continued displacement are rampant and much of the country's infrastructure — homes, hospitals and schools — has been reduced to rubble.

“We cannot let this nightmare slide from view,” Guterres said in a video message to the Paris conference.

“It’s time to support the Sudanese people. It’s time to silence the guns," he added.

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said the aim of the conference was to mobilize humanitarian funding to help Sudanese people, who have been victims of both a “terrible war” and “international indifference.”

The European Union's crisis management commissioner, Janez Lenarcic, said the 27-member bloc wants to ensure that Sudan is not forgotten as wars in Gaza and Ukraine dominate the international news.

“People of Sudan, caught up in this emergency, are almost completely invisible,” Lenarcic said. Sudan has turned into one of the worst humanitarian disasters ever on the African continent, he said, and added: “It is our duty not to look away.”

President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric warned that humanitarian action is increasingly politicized in Sudan and humanitarian workers are risking their lives to get vital aid to people.

“Securing a military advantage cannot be pursued regardless of the human cost,” Spoljaric said.

The United States and Saudi Arabia initially led efforts to find a negotiated way out of the conflict. But since October the fighting has been overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which is threatening to expand into a broader regional conflict.

Relief workers, meanwhile, warn that Sudan is hurtling towards potential mass death in the coming months. Food production and distribution networks have broken down and aid agencies are unable to reach the worst-stricken regions.

The conflict has also been marked by widespread reports of atrocities including killings, displacement and rape, particularly in the area of the capital and the western region of Darfur.

At least 37% of the population at crisis level or above suffer from hunger, according to OCHA. Save the Children warned that about 230,000 children, pregnant women and newborn mothers could die of malnutrition in the coming months.

“Famine is a reality in Sudan,” said Abdallah al-Dardari, a regional director of the U.N. Development Program.

The military, headed by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, have carved up Khartoum and trade indiscriminate fire at each other. In 2021, Burhan and Dagalo were uneasy allies who led a military coup. They toppled an internationally recognized civilian government that was supposed to steer Sudan’s democratic transition.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Surk from Nice, France. AP journalist Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.