Burhan, Hemedti Call for Dialogue to Overcome Sudan Crisis

Transitional Military Council Chairman General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan (Reuters)
Transitional Military Council Chairman General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan (Reuters)
TT

Burhan, Hemedti Call for Dialogue to Overcome Sudan Crisis

Transitional Military Council Chairman General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan (Reuters)
Transitional Military Council Chairman General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan (Reuters)

Military leaders in Sudan have called for dialogue and national unity to overcome the crisis facing the country. This came at a time security forces disbanded a gathering of families of political detainees, lawyers, and civil society activists.

While the crowd intended to perform Eid al-Fitr prayer, they had also planned a sit-in in front of Soba prison in southern Khartoum with the aim of pressing authorities to release all political detainees.

Since the army took power on October 25, security services have arrested dozens of political leaders and members of “resistance committees” who are active in organizing demonstrations against the military authority.

In Sudan, popular protests are escalating in demand of ending the army's rule and returning the country to the path of democratic transition led by a civilian government.

Transitional Military Council Chairman Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), addressed the nation on Eid al-Fitr and called on Sudan’s political parties to find national consensus and resolve the crisis through dialogue.

Al-Burhan said that discord and lack of acceptance of the other have negatively affected the overall political, social, and economic conditions in Sudan.

He added that the armed forces and other security services will have an active presence in all solutions offered to complete the democratic transition in the country.

Al-Burhan pointed out that the multiplicity of national initiatives and the efforts of international and regional organizations reflect the importance of national reconciliation and contribute towards a solution.

During his speech, Al-Burhan reiterated the call for all societal components, political parties, resistance committees and the revolution’s youth to rise above differences and place the country above all.

He also stressed the importance of stopping the tribal conflicts in West Darfur.

For his part, Hemedti echoed Al-Burhan’s statements and said that dialogue was the only way to resolve the political crisis experienced by Sudan.



US Issues Sanctions on Sudan’s Burhan

FILE PHOTO: Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit, in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit, in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo
TT

US Issues Sanctions on Sudan’s Burhan

FILE PHOTO: Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit, in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit, in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Sudan's leader, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accusing him of choosing war over negotiations to bring an end to the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.
The US Treasury Department said in a statement that under Burhan's leadership, the army's war tactics have included indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure, attacks on schools, markets and hospitals, and extrajudicial executions.
Washington announced the measures, first reported by Reuters, just a week after imposing sanctions on Burhan's rival in the two-year-old civil war, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces.
Two sources with knowledge of the action told Reuters one aim of Thursday's sanctions was to show that Washington was not picking sides.
Speaking earlier on Thursday, Burhan was defiant about the prospect that he might be targeted.
"I hear there's going to be sanctions on the army leadership. We welcome any sanctions for serving this country," he said.
Washington also issued sanctions over the supply of weapons to the army, targeting a Sudanese-Ukrainian national as well as a Hong Kong-based company.
Thursday's action freezes any of their US assets and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. The Treasury Department said it issued authorizations allowing certain transactions, including activities involving the warring generals, so as not to impede humanitarian assistance.
The Sudanese army and the RSF together led a coup in 2021 removing Sudan's civilian leadership, but fell out less than two years later over plans to integrate their forces.
The war that broke out in April 2023 has plunged half of the population into hunger.
Dagalo, known as Hemedti, was sanctioned after Washington determined his forces had committed genocide, as well as for attacks on civilians. The RSF has engaged in bloody looting campaigns in the territory it controls.
The United States and Saudi Arabia have tried repeatedly to bring both sides to the negotiating table, with the army refusing most attempts, including talks in Geneva in August which in part aimed to ease humanitarian access.
The army has instead ramped up its military campaign, this week taking the strategic city of Wad Madani and vowing to retake the capital Khartoum.