A joint governmental committee is in talks with tribal groups, led by the Hadendoa tribe blocking eastern Sudan with barricades, to end security tensions and reopen the land road and ports closed by the protesters.
The committee is expected to reach an agreement to end tension. However, no statements were issued following the meeting of the Sovereign Council, which was expected to discuss these developments.
The Hadendoa tribe is led by Mohammad Mohammad al-Amin.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that a joint committee of the military and civil components of the transitional government, headed by a member of the Sovereign Council Shamseddine Kabbashi, negotiated with representatives of the Supreme Council of Beja in Khartoum to end the protest and reopen the Port Sudan and Suakin.
The committee was scheduled to meet the group in Port Sudan. However, the group's leader refused to meet any civilians, which prompted Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok to cancel the committee's visit.
The tribal group closed the road linking Khartoum with the country's ports on the Red Sea in the east for three days.
The group mobilized thousands to block the roads and the transportation of goods and threatened to continue the closure unless Khartoum responded to its demands.
The tribes want to cancel the agreement of eastern Sudan in the Juba Agreement, dissolve the transitional government and the committee to dismantle the June 30 regime, form a new government, fight corruption, and hold early elections.
No official statements were issued on the ongoing talks in Khartoum between the two parties. However, the same sources told the newspaper that the two sides are on the verge of ending tension and restoring calm within days.
Asharq Al-Awsat quoted sources on Thursday as saying that the tribal group is supported by the military component of the Sovereign Council.
Sovereign Council member Mohammad Lafaki Suleman said that supporters of the ousted regime are seeking, in cooperation with unnamed parties, to change the political alliances in the country.
No details were leaked about the meeting of the Sovereign Council, which was expected to take decisions on the situation in eastern Sudan.
Several components and parties issued statements denouncing the protest, stressing that the protesting tribes do not represent them all, warning that no tribe, council, or entity in eastern Sudan has the right to speak in the name of the whole region.
They cautioned that this move aims to create sedition.
Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Friday, according to a government source, that the meeting of the High Council discussed the situation in eastern Sudan.
The meeting witnessed sharp disagreements, and parties exchanged accusations of using the security situation for political gains.
The source pointed out that the security authorities did not address the matter seriously, fearing that their members would be held accountable if they clashed with civilians.
At the same time, the other party stresses that peaceful demonstration is a legitimate right, but it does not mean chaos or war against the state.
