Burhan Hopes IGAD Summit on Sudan Will Be a Success

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, holds talks with IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu in Djibouti on Sunday. (Sovereign Council)
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, holds talks with IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu in Djibouti on Sunday. (Sovereign Council)
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Burhan Hopes IGAD Summit on Sudan Will Be a Success

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, holds talks with IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu in Djibouti on Sunday. (Sovereign Council)
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, holds talks with IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu in Djibouti on Sunday. (Sovereign Council)

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, held talks in Djibouti on Sunday with President Ismail Omar Guelleh, who is currently chair of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu.

They agreed on the need for sustainable ceasefire in Sudan.

On his way back to Sudan, Burhan met with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki at Asmara International Airport where they tackled the latest developments in Sudan.

A statement from the Sovereign Council's media office said Burhan spoke with Djibouti’s President about the repercussions of what he called the violations and crimes committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces against the citizens and their destruction of the state infrastructure.

He expressed hopes to find a solution to the current crisis in Sudan.

“We hope the upcoming IGAD summit on Sudan will be a success and find a solution to the crisis so that security and stability can be restored,” the statement quoted him as saying.

Sudan announced on Sunday that the IGAD will meet soon, but a date has not been set yet.

Two weeks ago, Burhan met with Kenyan President William Ruto in Nairobi to discuss the security situation in Sudan. The leaders agreed to work to convene an urgent IGAD summit to find ways to accelerate a solution to the crisis.

In Djibouti, Omar Guelleh expressed his country's readiness to provide any assistance and suggestions of solutions to end the conflict.

He also voiced full support to the proposed initiatives and the roles played by Saudi Arabia, the US and IGAD to resolve the crisis.

For his part, Gebeyehu wrote on his X account that the meeting with Burhan focused on the role played by IGAD in facilitating discussions on the conflict.

The Sovereign Council said Burhan and Gebeyehu discussed the progress of the indirect negotiations held in the Saudi city of Jeddah.



France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
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France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)

Paris declined to comment on Algeria’s “strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to recognize Morocco’s claim over the Sahara.

The office of the French Foreign Ministry refused to respond to an AFP request for a comment on the Algeria’s stance.

It did say that further comments could impact the trip Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to make to France in late September or early October.

The visit has been postponed on numerous occasions over disagreements between the two countries.

France had explicitly expressed its constant and clear support for the autonomy rule proposal over the Sahara during Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s visit to Morocco in February, reported AFP.

The position has helped improve ties between Rabat and Paris.

On Thursday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “great regret and strong denunciation" about the French government's decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region "within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Algeria was informed of the decision by France in recent days, an Algerian foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry also said Algeria would draw all the consequences from the decision and hold the French government alone completely responsible.