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Faki to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Don’t Want New Partnership with Military

Former member of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council, Mohammed al-Faki Suliman.
Former member of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council, Mohammed al-Faki Suliman.
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Faki to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Don’t Want New Partnership with Military

Former member of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council, Mohammed al-Faki Suliman.
Former member of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council, Mohammed al-Faki Suliman.

Mohammed al-Faki Suliman, a former member of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council, expressed his optimism that the military would cede power to civilians in his country.

In an interview to Asharq Al-Awsat, he hoped that a national government of non-partisan specialists would be formed.

The Forces of Freedom and Change do not want a new partnership with the military, he declared.

Faki was detained along with dozens of other officials during the October 25 military coup and was released a month later as part of a deal between the military and then Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. The premier resigned in January after failing to bridge the gap between the generals and the protest movement.

Saudi role

Faki hailed Saudi Arabia’s role in Sudan, saying Riyadh has become “one of the Arab world’s most influential capitals.”

It has become a major player in a majority of regional countries, due to the stability and major influence boasted by the Kingdom and the wise policies shown by its leadership.

Faki noted the close relations between Saudi Arabia and Sudan and the many common interests they share. This makes Saudi Arabia keen on Sudan’s stability. These interests include the security in the Red Sea and the oil and tourism sectors.

Saudi Arabia envisions achieving cooperating between countries that oversee the Red Sea. This is one of the political alliances the Kingdom is working on, Faki said.

Moreover, Sudan boasts massive investment potential that can be exploited by Saudi Arabia in the agriculture, transportation, light industries sectors and others, he continued.

Saudi Arabia envisages major investments in Sudan, but they hinge on achieving stability in the African country and its neighbors.

Dialogue with the military

Commenting on the ongoing dialogue between the Forces of Freedom and Change and the military, Faki said it is focused on ending the October coup.

“We have spoken frankly about the openness of exchanging ideas about resolving the complicated situation and we are awaiting the military’s vision about the issue,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Forces of Freedom and Change and the people are opposed to holding direct negotiations with the army, he added, saying that exchanges are being made on written papers and through international monitors.

He vowed that the revolutionary forces will be included in every step taken by the Forces of Freedom and Change and that the people will be constantly updated on developments.

“If an agreement is reached on ending the coup and the return of the military to their barracks, then no one would be opposed to holding direct talks to fully arrange the situation,” he stated.

Faki adamantly rejected claims that the Forces of Freedom and Change were seeking partnership with the military.

“Partnership means having civilians and the military at state institutions. If we were to form a sovereign council and a civil government, that does not mean that partnership would not exist. In order to put such fears to rest, we will not allow any arrangement that would allow the military to meddle in state management,” he stressed.

“At the same time, the Forces of Freedom and Change alone will not be alone in shaping the new scene in Sudan,” he went on to say.

Assurances to the military

On providing assurances to the military in exchange for their return to the barracks, Faki said this issue needs further discussions about the current concerns and the violations related to “selective justice” that were committed.

This issue concerns all the Sudanese people, who paid the price in blood during the revolt.

Faki said he remained optimistic over the situation.

“I am not skeptical of the current dialogue and believe that an agreement can be reached that would preserve the stability of the country,” he remarked.

“The voice of the Sudanese people will ultimately prevail,” he stressed. “If they want a partisan government, then they will have their representatives in it. If they want something else, then it is up to them to choose.”

On the position of the youth and revolutionaries on the dialogue, Faki said they reject negotiations and partnership with the military.

They are warily awaiting the outcome. If it meets their demand for the army to return to their barracks and the formation of a civilian government, then they will support it.

If a “weak agreement” is reached, similar to the one struck between Hamdok and military chief Abdul Fattah al-Burhan on November 21, then they will reject it and continue the revolt, predicted Faki.

“The Forces of Freedom and Change are under immense pressure and they are being closely watched by the people on the street,” he said.

Asked what would transpire should the dialogue between the civilians and the military fail, he replied: “Nothing will happen.”

“We agreed to dialogue at the specific demands of the people on the streets and we are determined to fulfill them,” he vowed.

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Interviews

Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US does not plan to withdraw its forces from Syria.

The US is committed to “the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with,” he said.

Here is the full text of the interview.

Question: Mr. Goldrich, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us today. I know you are leaving your post soon. How do you assess the accomplishments and challenges remaining?

Answer: Thank you very much for the chance to talk with you today. I've been in this position for three years, and so at the end of three years, I can see that there's a lot that we accomplished and a lot that we have left to do. But at the beginning of a time I was here, we had just completed a review of our Syria policy, and we saw that we needed to focus on reducing suffering for the people in Syria. We needed to reduce violence. We needed to hold the regime accountable for things that are done and most importantly, from the US perspective, we needed to keep ISIS from reemerging as a threat to our country and to other countries. At the same time, we also realized that there wouldn't be a solution to the crisis until there was a political process under resolution 2254, so in each of these areas, we've seen both progress and challenges, but of course, on ISIS, we have prevented the reemergence of the threat from northeast Syria, and we've helped deal with people that needed to be repatriated out of the prisons, and we dealt with displaced people in al-Hol to reduce the numbers there. We helped provide for stabilization in those parts of Syria.

Question: I want to talk a little bit about the ISIS situation now that the US troops are still there, do you envision a timeline where they will be withdrawn? Because there were some reports in the press that there is a plan from the Biden administration to withdraw.

Answer: Yeah. So right now, our focus is on the mission that we have there to keep ISIS from reemerging. So I know there have been reports, but I want to make clear that we remain committed to the role that we play in that part of Syria, to the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with, and to the need to prevent that threat from reemerging.

Question: So you can assure people who are saying that you might withdraw, that you are remaining for the time being?

Answer: Yes, and that we remain committed to this mission which needs to continue to be pursued.

Question: You also mentioned the importance of humanitarian aid. The US has been leading on this. Are you satisfied with where you are today on the humanitarian front in Syria?

Answer: We remain committed to the role that we play to provide for humanitarian assistance in Syria. Of the money that was pledged in Brussels, we pledged $593 million just this past spring, and we overall, since the beginning of the conflict, have provided $18 billion both to help the Syrians who are inside of Syria and to help the refugees who are in surrounding countries. And so we remain committed to providing that assistance, and we remain keenly aware that 90% of Syrians are living in poverty right now, and that there's been suffering there. We're doing everything we can to reduce the suffering, but I think where we would really like to be is where there's a larger solution to the whole crisis, so Syrian people someday will be able to provide again for themselves and not need this assistance.

Question: And that's a perfect key to my next question. Solution in Syria. you are aware that the countries in the region are opening up to Assad again, and you also have the EU signaling overture to the Syrian regime and Assad. How do you deal with that?

Answer: For the United States, our policy continues to be that we will not normalize with the regime in Syria until there's been authentic and enduring progress on the goals of resolution 2254, until the human rights of the Syrian people are respected and until they have the civil and human rights that they deserve. We know other countries have engaged with the regime. When those engagements happen, we don't support them, but we remind the countries that are engaged that they should be using their engagements to push forward on the shared international goals under 2254, and that whatever it is that they're doing should be for the sake of improving the situation of the Syrian people.

Question: Let's say that all of the countries decided to talk to Assad, aren’t you worried that the US will be alienated in the process?

Answer: The US will remain true to our own principles and our own policies and our own laws, and the path for the regime in Syria to change its relationship with us is very clear, if they change the behaviors that led to the laws that we have and to the policies that we have, if those behaviors change and the circumstances inside of Syria change, then it's possible to have a different kind of relationship, but that's where it has to start.

Question: My last question to you before you leave, if you have to pick one thing that you need to do in Syria today, what is it that you would like to see happening today?

Answer: So there are a number of things, I think that will always be left and that there are things that we will try to do, to try to make them happen. We want to hold people accountable in Syria for things that have happened. So even today, we observed something called the International Day for victims of enforced disappearances, there are people that are missing, and we're trying to draw attention to the need to account for the missing people. So our step today was to sanction a number of officials who were responsible for enforced disappearances, but we also created something called the independent institution for missing persons, and that helps the families, in the non-political way, get information on what's happened. So I'd like to see some peace for the families of the missing people. I'd like to see the beginning of a political process, there hasn't been a meeting of the constitutional committee in two years, and I think that's because the regime has not been cooperating in political process steps. So we need to change that situation. And I would, of course, like it's important to see the continuation of the things that we were talking about, so keeping ISIS from reemerging and maintaining assistance as necessary in the humanitarian sphere. So all these things, some of them are ongoing, and some of them remain to be achieved. But the Syrian people deserve all aspects of our policy to be fulfilled and for them to be able to return to a normal life.