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Sudan’s Pro-democracy Coalition Says Working to Reach Framework Deal with Army 

Sudanese protest against the United Nations mediation between Sudan's civilian and army leaders, outside the UN headquarters in the Manshiya district of the capital Khartoum on November 12, 2022. (AFP)
Sudanese protest against the United Nations mediation between Sudan's civilian and army leaders, outside the UN headquarters in the Manshiya district of the capital Khartoum on November 12, 2022. (AFP)
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Sudan’s Pro-democracy Coalition Says Working to Reach Framework Deal with Army 

Sudanese protest against the United Nations mediation between Sudan's civilian and army leaders, outside the UN headquarters in the Manshiya district of the capital Khartoum on November 12, 2022. (AFP)
Sudanese protest against the United Nations mediation between Sudan's civilian and army leaders, outside the UN headquarters in the Manshiya district of the capital Khartoum on November 12, 2022. (AFP)

Sudan's Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition said on Wednesday it was seeking to sign a framework agreement with the military as a first step to ending the political deadlock that has gripped the country since an October 2021 coup. 

The military takeover ended a partnership with the FFC following the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir and plunged the country into political and economic turmoil. 

The coalition and military began talks with international backing in recent weeks, and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan this week confirmed that the military had presented its notes on a draft constitution. 

In Wednesday's statement, the coalition said it had reached "understandings" with the military based on their discussions. A high-level military source said that understandings had been reached but that there remained some pending issues. 

The statement said that the coalition would seek to sign a framework agreement with the military and other political forces "that would form a constitutional basis for a civilian democratic transitional authority". 

Before signing a final agreement, the group said that broader discussions would be held on four main issues: transitional justice, security sector reform, revision of the Juba peace agreement, and the dismantling of the Bashir regime. 

These issues have been cited by members of the coalition and analysts as key sources of tension between the military and civilians that culminated in the coup. 

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Arab World

Trump's Idea to 'Clean Out' Gaza Threatens Jordan, Egypt, Analysts Say

Both Jordan and Egypt have repeatedly rejected any push to remove Palestinians from their land. Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP
Both Jordan and Egypt have repeatedly rejected any push to remove Palestinians from their land. Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP
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Trump's Idea to 'Clean Out' Gaza Threatens Jordan, Egypt, Analysts Say

Both Jordan and Egypt have repeatedly rejected any push to remove Palestinians from their land. Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP
Both Jordan and Egypt have repeatedly rejected any push to remove Palestinians from their land. Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP

US President Donald Trump's proposal to uproot Gazans to Egypt and Jordan is a "hostile" move against the two US allies and aims to "liquidate the Palestinian cause", Jordanian analysts told AFP.

The US leader on Saturday floated an idea to "clean out" Gaza after more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas had reduced the Palestinian territory to a "demolition site".

"I'd rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change," Trump added.

He said the displacement of Gazans to neighboring Egypt and Jordan could be done "temporarily or could be long term".

For Oraib Rantawi, director of the Al Quds Center for Political Studies in Amman, the idea is "a hostile position" by the new US administration towards Palestinians, Jordan and Egypt.

Jordan already hosts 2.3 million Palestinian refugees and has repeatedly rejected any project aiming to make the kingdom an "alternative homeland".

"Our rejection of the displacement of Palestinians is firm and will not change. Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians," Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Sunday.

Rantawi said the idea was "a threat for the security and stability" of Israel's two neighbors, seeing a "message of pressure" for Amman and a "poisoned gift" for Cairo.

Such a plan would bring closer a wider displacement of Palestinians, particularly from the occupied West Bank to Jordan and aim to "liquidate the Palestinian cause at the expense of Arab countries", Rantawi told AFP.

For Palestinians, any attempt to move them from Gaza would evoke dark memories of what the Arab world calls the "Nakba" or "catastrophe" -- the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948.

Trump's proposal comes after the United States issued a broad freeze on foreign aid except that destined for Egypt and Israel.

'Unrealistic'

Jordanian writer and political analyst Adel Mahmoud called Trump's idea "unrealistic" and a reflection of "the position of the Israeli far right" made under "a humanitarian pretext".

"Jordan and Egypt will not accept it," he added.

Egypt has previously warned against any "forced displacement" of Palestinians from Gaza into the Sinai desert, and on Sunday rejected any infringement of Palestinians' "inalienable rights... whether temporarily or long-term".

"According to our experience of the 70 to 80 years of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, any temporary measure adopted by Israel ends up becoming permanent," Rantawi said.

Saleh al-Armouti, an MP with Jordan's main opposition Islamic Action Front party, said Trump's proposal was a "violation of Jordan's sovereignty" and a "declaration of war".

King Abdullah II has set out red lines including no "judaisation of Jerusalem, no resettlement of Palestinians and no alternative homeland", he said.