Sudan’s Opposition Guarded on Army Pledge to Leave Talks to Civilians

Sudan's President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, attends the 39th Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) extraordinary summit in Nairobi, Kenya, 05 July 2022. (EPA)
Sudan's President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, attends the 39th Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) extraordinary summit in Nairobi, Kenya, 05 July 2022. (EPA)
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Sudan’s Opposition Guarded on Army Pledge to Leave Talks to Civilians

Sudan's President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, attends the 39th Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) extraordinary summit in Nairobi, Kenya, 05 July 2022. (EPA)
Sudan's President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, attends the 39th Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) extraordinary summit in Nairobi, Kenya, 05 July 2022. (EPA)

Sudanese political parties sidelined by a coup last October gave a guarded response on Tuesday to the army's pledge to step aside from a dialogue initiative and let civilian groups hold talks to form a government.

The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition said a speech on Monday by army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan failed to spell out how the military would withdraw from politics, as demanded by the civilian opposition.

Burhan's decisions "are a clear maneuver and tactical retreat that appear to accept the principle of the army returning to the barracks, while emptying this principle of any content", a statement from the FFC said.

Last year's military takeover ended a power-sharing arrangement between the military and civilian groups agreed following the 2019 overthrow of long-time leader Omar al-Bashir.

It has led to more than eight months of mass street protests against the military, with most civilian groups refusing to negotiate with the army.

During the latest rallies, on Thursday, medics said nine people were killed by security forces, and protesters have since been holding sit-ins in the capital, Khartoum.

On Monday, Burhan said the military would not take part in internationally-backed dialogue efforts to break the stalemate, but leave civilian groups to negotiate to form a government.

The existing ruling council, which Burhan heads and which includes some civilian members, would then be dissolved, and a high military council would be formed, he said.

Khalid Omer Yousif, an FFC leader and senior cabinet member before the coup, said Burhan's speech was an attempt to absorb public pressure while maintaining military authority over the political process.

"Yesterday's speech did not address the essence of the crisis, which is the military coup last October," he told Reuters.

"We reject the speech of Burhan," said Bashir Suleiman, a 33-year-old protester at the sit-in in central Khartoum, who said the army would retain power through the high military council. "Our demand is for a fully civilian state."



Iraq Seizes More than One Ton of Captagon Pills Shipped from Syria

Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iraq Seizes More than One Ton of Captagon Pills Shipped from Syria

Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)

Iraq's security forces have seized an estimated 1.1 ton of captagon pills hidden inside a truck that entered Iraq from Syria via Türkiye, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

The drug shipment, the largest ever seized in Iraq, was tracked and intercepted with the assistance of "important information" provided by Saudi's drug enforcement agency, the Interior Ministry spokesperson Brigadier Muqdad Meri said in a televised statement.

Western anti-narcotics officials say the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon has for years been mass-produced in Syria.

Captagon - a mix of amphetamines also known as the "poor man’s cocaine" - is one of the more popular recreational drugs in the Middle East.