22/4/2022: Sudan Tribune – How the military harnessed the African Union in the UNITAMS process to legitimize the coup, by Khalid Mukhtar Salim

Khalid Mukhtar Salim calls for the international community to establish an international panel including respected pro-democracy figures to prevent the African Union’s leadership from “consolidating” the military coup.

Salim argues that the AU “hijacked” the UN’s political process for Sudan’s transition to turn it into “a toothless local process with cosmetic engagement”, citing the removal of Sudan’s portfolio from the African Union Peace and Security Council which includes African leaders with “great” experience of pro-democracy interventions.

Salim suggests that a Sudanese military regime serves the presidential ambitions of Moussa Faki, the chair of the AU Commission and seasoned Chadian politician, who “knows perfectly well that since Chad’s independence, no president has come to power without Khartoum’s support,” with a democratic civilian Sudan is unlikely to interfere in neighbouring affairs.

Faki’s chief of staff, Mohamed El-Hacen Lebatt, is “not pro-democracy,” given his experience as foreign minister in a Mauritanian coup regime.