SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - FFC: Sudan political actors confirm criteria for future prime minister

15/3/2023: Radio Dabanga - FFC: Sudan political actors confirm criteria for future prime minister

Radio Dabanga report that Mohamed Abdelhakam, leading member of Sudan’s Federal Association and the Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC), confirmed that signatories of Sudan’s Framework Agreement have agreed on the criteria for selecting a prime minister.

He explained that “choosing the prime minister is an inherent right of the forces of the revolution.”

He told Radio Dabanga that the Federal Association believes that the prime minister should be chosen from a pool of technocrats who are not involved in partisan work. He also stressed the necessity of forming “a government of independent voices without partisan quotas, provided that the parties devote themselves to preparing for the elections.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Bloomberg - Ukraine War Combines With Coup to Leave Half of Sudan Hungry

15/3/2022: Bloomberg - Ukraine War Combines With Coup to Leave Half of Sudan Hungry, by Simon Marks

Bloomberg report that, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warn that almost half of Sudan’s population will face hunger in 2022 as the fallout from the October 2021 coup and the war in Ukraine make it more difficult for cash-strapped Sudan to source food.

About 20 million people will likely be classed as suffering from “emergency” or “crisis” levels of “acute food insecurity,” double 2021’s figure, according to the WFP, a situation that has worsened due to soaring global grain prices, a local shortage of foreign currency for imports and spiralling civil conflict and drought in some parts of Sudan.

Sudan, which depended on Russia and Ukraine for about 35% of its wheat imports in 2021, will need to look for an alternative and pay higher prices, Bloomberg add.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters – Sudanese militia leader Musa Hilal freed after pardon

15/3/2021: Reuters –  Sudanese militia leader Musa Hilal freed after pardon

Reuters report that Musa Hilal, a Sudanese militia leader accused by rights groups of atrocities in Darfur, was released from a Khartoum prison following a pardon by Sudan’s ruling council.

Human rights groups accused Hilal of coordinating Arab militias blamed for atrocities during a conflict in Darfur that left an estimated 300,000 dead and 2.5 million displaced. Hilal has previously denied responsibility for atrocities, saying he mobilised his tribesmen to defend their lands after a government call to popular defence against non-Arab rebels.

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Himedti and Hilal, who both hail from the Rizeigat tribe, remain in competition for political and economic influence in Darfur. Both have held gold mining interests in the region.

Despite Hilal’s detention, many of the Arab militias still active in Darfur remain loyal to him, and he remains leader of the Sudanese Revolutionary Awakening Council movement.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Human Rights Watch – Sudan’s Pardon of Militia Leader Sends Wrong Message

15/3/2021: Human Rights Watch –  Sudan’s Pardon of Militia Leader Sends Wrong Message, by Mohamed Osman

Human Rights Watch assistant researcher Mohammed Osman calls for Sudanese authorities to “vigorously investigate” Musa Hilal, “who gained notoriety playing a well-documented role leading the Janjaweed militia and serving as a government advisor, as serious crimes were committed in Sudan’s Darfur conflict between 2002 and 2005.”

Osman adds that the government “should also take concrete steps towards establishing and operationalizing accountability mechanisms laid out in the Darfur peace agreement that include cooperation with the International Criminal Court and setting up a special court for Darfur”.

Osman also notes Hilal’s “direct involvement” in abuses, citing Hilal “taking women prisoners at a market in 2004, who’s whereabouts remained unknown until a year later.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga – Sudan: RSF Lt Gen 'had hand in Musa Hilal release'

15/3/2021: Radio Dabanga –  Sudan: RSF Lt Gen 'had hand in Musa Hilal release'

Radio Dabanga report that former Janjaweed leader and head of the Revolutionary Awakening Council (RAC) Musa Hilal stated that meetings with Lt Gen Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, Deputy Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and member of the Transitional Partners Council (TPC), led to his release.

Musa Hilal was pardoned by the Transitional Sovereignty Council after being arrested in 2017 for refusing to respond to the government’s disarmament campaign. 

Dagalo  condemned “the media campaign that tries to distort the image of the Rapid Support Forces”, and warned “promoters of sedition” that the government and its institutions must be allowed to do their duty to protect the Sudanese people.

Hilal is still subject to UN sanctions that include a travel ban and an asset freeze. He has not been indicted by the International Criminal Court.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP - Sudan will mediate Egypt-Ethiopia dam dispute, general says

15/3/2020: AP - Sudan will mediate Egypt-Ethiopia dam dispute, general says, by Samy Magdy

 AP reports that Himedti, the deputy head of Sudan’s sovereign council and commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, says Sudan will mediate a deal on an escalating dispute between Ethiopia and Egypt over Ethiopia’s controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile River.

 Ethiopia’s plans to build the dam aims to provide much-needed electricity, but Egypt fears the project could reduce its share of the Nile, its main source of freshwater.

 At the end of a two-day meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Himedti said that Sudan will work to bridge the gap and “reach an agreement” in the years-long dispute.

 Ethiopia believes that the US is siding with Egypt in the dispute. Ethiopia responded to Egyptian statements that it would defend its national interests with veiled warnings that it would retaliate in the event of any attacks.