SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters – Ethiopian, African Union mediation needs to be unified – Sudan military council

23/6/19: Reuters – Ethiopian, African Union mediation needs to be unified – Sudan military council

 Reuters reports that Sudan’s ruling military council said on Sunday that Ethiopia and the African Union needed to unify their efforts to mediate between the council and an opposition coalition on the structure of the country’s transitional government.

 The council’s spokesman, Lieutenant General Shams El Din Kabbashi, said on Sunday the council had rejected Ethiopia’s proposal, which the opposition coalition agreed to on Saturday, but had agreed in principle to the AU’s plan.

 “The African Union’s initiative came first,” said Kabbashi, adding that the council had not studied the Ethiopian initiative, which he described as unilateral.

 A draft of the Ethiopian proposal seen by Reuters suggested that a ruling sovereign council would be made up of seven civilians and seven members of the military, with one additional seat reserved for an impartial individual.

 Details of the AU proposal were not immediately known.