Internationally-sponsored Meeting for Sudanese Parties Fails

Sudanese demonstrators take to the streets to protest last year's military coup which deepened the country's political and economic turmoil, in Khartoum, Sudan, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. (AP)

A meeting for Sudanese parties that was supposed to be held at the house of the Saudi ambassador in Khartoum ended in failure.

The meeting was sponsored by the QUAD, which consists of the US, Saudi Arabia, UK, and the UAE.

It was aimed at tackling the fallout from the military coup in October 2021.

Following the collapse of the Trilateral Mechanism initiative, Saudi ambassador to Sudan Ali bin Hassan Jafar kicked off consultations with the US Ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, and British Ambassador, Giles Lever, to find a solution to the political impasse.

The QUAD called for a meeting between the army leaders, the Freedom and Change-Central Council, and the allied parties to the Juba Agreement process, two reliable sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

A key goal of the meeting was to discuss the stalled dialogue regarding the transition to democracy, the formation of a new government, and the structure of the transition period.

According to one of the sources, the meeting was only open to representatives of the three parties, but the armed factions brought figures loyal to them who weren't invited.

This forced representatives of the army and the Freedom and Change to boycott the meeting.

According to the second source, one of the western ambassadors described the move as “irresponsible”.

The ambassadors of the four states expressed understanding for the opposition's decision not to attend.

The meeting was part of efforts led by Saudi Arabia and the US in June to bring together army leaders and members of the Freedom and Change movement.

The efforts stalled as disputes between the rivals persisted.

In the coming days, the QUAD expects further steps to be taken to speed up the political process to resolve the country's crisis.

The Saudi-American initiatives was announced after the after Freedom and Change movement, the largest opposition body in the country, refused to take part in direct negotiations sponsored by the tripartite mechanism consisting of the United Nations, the African Union, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) over the “military’s insistence on introducing parties that are not part of the crisis and that want the army to remain in power.”