The United States obtained, Wednesday, November 3, the explicit support of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), two countries considered likely to have an influence on the Sudanese military, in a joint call for “Immediate restoration” of the civilian government overthrown by the army in Khartoum.
“We call for the immediate and total restoration of the transitional government led by civilians”, said these three countries, as well as the United Kingdom, in a joint statement, ensuring “Share the great concern of the international community”. “We call on all parties to show cooperation and unity to achieve this crucial goal”, they added. “To this end, we encourage the release of all those who have been arrested in connection with recent events as well as the lifting of the state of emergency”, they wrote again, believing that the violence had “No place in the new Sudan”.
On October 25, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane arrested Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, a technocrat who became the civilian face of the Sudanese transition after the revolution that brought down dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. While announcing the dissolution transitional institutions in which the military and civilians shared power.
Last week, a senior American official said that Washington was in contact with Abu Dhabi, Riyadh but also Cairo so that they put more pressure on the Sudanese generals. He had notably considered that the Emiratis had contributed to the return of the Prime Minister to his home while affirming that it was insufficient, since he is still under house arrest.
Absence from Egypt
The spokesman for the American diplomacy, Ned Price, also revealed Wednesday, for the first time since the military coup, that Washington was in direct contact with the military putschists to ask them to go back.
American diplomats said “Without any ambiguity” to the Sudanese army “What the international community demands, namely a rapid restoration of the government led by civilians”, he explained. With Wednesday’s statement to four, the United States shows, according to him, that they are not “Not alone” but in the contrary ” United “ with their allies, including in the region.
The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken had spoken in recent days in Europe with his Saudi and Emirati counterparts, in particular to work on this text.
Egypt, accused by some observers of supporting the military coup, did not sign Wednesday’s joint declaration. Asked about this absence, Ned Price replied that it was necessary “Ask the Egyptians” what was their position, while ensuring that contacts also continued with Cairo on the Sudanese issue.
The United States, which immediately suspended 700 million dollars (million euros) of assistance in Khartoum after the seizure of power by the military, multiplies the declarations to call on General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane to pick up the thread of the interim power sharing with civilians.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the Sudanese capital to speak out against the coup in a country already mired in economic slump and plagued by decades of conflict. Despite new clashes that left three protesters dead that day, the American envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, admitted on Tuesday a certain ” detention “ from at least part of the security forces.
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