Sudan Factions Form New Alliance as Splits Deepen From Main Bloc

Head of the Sudan Liberation Movement and governor of Darfur Mini Minawi (L) and head of the Justice and Equality Movement and Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim (C), as well as other political leaders, hold a conference entitled the "National Consensus Charter of the Forces of Freedom and Change" in Sudan's capital Khartoum, announcing the formation of an alliance separate from the country's main civilian bloc, on October 2, 2021. (AFP)
Head of the Sudan Liberation Movement and governor of Darfur Mini Minawi (L) and head of the Justice and Equality Movement and Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim (C), as well as other political leaders, hold a conference entitled the "National Consensus Charter of the Forces of Freedom and Change" in Sudan's capital Khartoum, announcing the formation of an alliance separate from the country's main civilian bloc, on October 2, 2021. (AFP)
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Sudan Factions Form New Alliance as Splits Deepen From Main Bloc

Head of the Sudan Liberation Movement and governor of Darfur Mini Minawi (L) and head of the Justice and Equality Movement and Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim (C), as well as other political leaders, hold a conference entitled the "National Consensus Charter of the Forces of Freedom and Change" in Sudan's capital Khartoum, announcing the formation of an alliance separate from the country's main civilian bloc, on October 2, 2021. (AFP)
Head of the Sudan Liberation Movement and governor of Darfur Mini Minawi (L) and head of the Justice and Equality Movement and Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim (C), as well as other political leaders, hold a conference entitled the "National Consensus Charter of the Forces of Freedom and Change" in Sudan's capital Khartoum, announcing the formation of an alliance separate from the country's main civilian bloc, on October 2, 2021. (AFP)

Several political factions including ex-rebel groups announced Saturday the formation of an alliance separate from Sudan’s main civilian bloc, in the latest sign of splits marring the country’s transition.

The announcement at a ceremony in Khartoum came as Sudan reels from fragmentation within the Forces of Freedom and Change, an alliance which spearheaded protests that ousted president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, AFP reported.

Sudan has since August 2019 been run by an administration of military generals and civilians from the FFC through a rocky transition marked by economic woes.

Splits have deepened within the FFC in recent months, and support for the transitional government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has waned in large part due to a raft of tough economic reforms.

Saturday’s ceremony included political parties as well as the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction led by Mini Minawi and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) of Gibril Ibrahim.

“We want a united FFC,” Minawi said during the ceremony.

“We urge the people on your side who pretend they are from the FFC to sit with us and listen to us,” he added, addressing both the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the prime minister.

Hamdok did not attend Saturday’s ceremony.

In early September, he was at the signing ceremony for an alliance of other factions within the FFC that also called for unity, calling it a “step in the right direction.”

Neither Minawi nor Ibrahim took part in that signing.

In October last year, Minawi’s SLM faction and Ibrahim’s JEM were among rebel groups that signed a peace deal with the government to end long-running conflicts under Bashir.

Minawi was named governor of western Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region in May, while Ibrahim was appointed finance minister last February.

On September 21, the government announced thwarting a coup attempt by military officers and civilians who it said were linked to Bashir’s regime.

The country has been grappling with protests in east Sudan by key tribes opposed to the October peace deal.

Protests have also erupted in major cities including Khartoum condemning the military coup attempt and calling for civilian rule.



Kurdish PKK Militants to Hand over First Weapons in Ceremony in Iraq

PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
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Kurdish PKK Militants to Hand over First Weapons in Ceremony in Iraq

PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)

Dozens of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants will hand over their weapons in a ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant first step toward ending a decades-long insurgency with Türkiye.

The PKK, locked in conflict with the Turkish state and outlawed since 1984, decided in May to disband, disarm and end its armed struggle after a public call to do so from its long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, Reuters said.

After a series of failed peace efforts, the new initiative could pave the way for Ankara to end an insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people, burdened the economy and wrought deep social and political divisions in Türkiye and the wider region.

Around 40 PKK militants and one commander were expected to hand over their weapons at the ceremony in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, people familiar with the plan said. The PKK is based in northern Iraq after being pushed well beyond Türkiye’s frontier in recent years.

The arms are to be destroyed later in another ceremony attended by Turkish and Iraqi intelligence figures, officials of Iraq's Kurdistan regional government, and senior members of Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM party - which also played a key role in facilitating the PKK's disarmament decision.

The PKK, DEM and Ocalan have all called on Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's government to address Kurdish political demands. In a rare online video published on Wednesday, Ocalan also urged Türkiye's parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage the broader peace process.

Ankara has taken steps toward forming the commission, while the DEM and Ocalan have said that legal assurances and certain mechanisms were needed to smooth the PKK's transition into democratic politics.

Erdogan has said his government would not allow any attempts to sabotage the disarmament process, adding he would give people "historic good news".

Omer Celik, a spokesman for Erdogan's AK Party, said the disarmament process should not be allowed to drag on longer than a few months to avoid it becoming subject to provocations.