SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudanese talks hit roadblock over security sector reform

30/3/2023: Reuters - Sudanese talks hit roadblock over security sector reform

Reuters report that talks in Sudan aimed at reaching a final agreement to launch a new transition towards elections have hit a roadblock over the thorny issue of restructuring the military, political and military sources said. 

Disagreements surfaced over the timeline for integrating the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the military, a move called for in a framework deal for the new transition signed in December 2022.  

Army, police, and intelligence withdrew from the talks in protest against the lack of any timetable for integration, two political sources and one military source told Reuters.

While the army prefers a two-year timeline for integration, international facilitators have suggested five years, the sources said, while the RSF proposed 10 years.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Atlantic Council – Coronavirus comes to Sudan

30/3/2020: Atlantic Council – Coronavirus comes to Sudan, by Cameron Hudson

 Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Cameron Hudson assesses the political costs of the coronavirus in Sudan, raising the prospects of military rule being restored.

 Hudson writes that “some in Sudan’s international ‘Friends Group’” are concerned by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s “timid response” to the crisis, warning that the democratic transition may stall unless Hamdok fails to reassure a worried public, skeptical donor community, and an unreformed security sector that he can rally a national response to the coronavirus crisis.

 Hudson further suggests that Arab Gulf and Western governments are likely to revisit development budgets as they turn to their domestic response efforts to coronavirus, arguing that “profoundly aid-dependent countries like Sudan have to reconcile themselves to the likelihood that even pledged assistance funds might not materialise this year” with a “go-it-alone approach” possibly needing to be contemplated.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Coronavirus, precautions spread in Sudan

30/3/2020: Radio Dabanga - Coronavirus, precautions spread in Sudan

 Radio Dabanga reports that the Communist Party of Sudan has proposed policy recommendations to contain the spread of coronavirus, as quarantined Sudanese call for urgent assistance.

 The party called for hospitals to be equipped with quarantine areas for suspected cases and patients, and for laboratory services to confirm whether suspected patients carry the disease. The party also called for all resources available at all state agencies, including army and police hospitals, and hospitals of the security apparatus to be directed to the Ministry of Health.

 34 Sudanese who returned from Egypt who have been quarantined in the Red Sea state, reportedly complain of water and food shortages and that they are forced to sleep on the sand because there are no beds. They appeal to the authorities for urgent assistance.