SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune – Mahdi resigns Sudan Call’s chairmanship, calls for internal peace conference

19/9/19: Sudan Tribune – Mahdi resigns Sudan Call’s chairmanship, calls for internal peace conference

 Sudan Tribune reports that the leader of the National Umma Party (NUP), Sadiq al-Mahdi has resigned from the chairmanship of the Sudan Call alliance, calling for a  review of the group’s partnership with the other forces and peace conference inside the country instead of foreign venues.

 Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), the NUP and the armed groups formed the Sudan Call alliance in December 2014.

 The Sudan Call is one of the four main blocks that formed the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) in January 2019. However, the FFC has turned increasingly divisive, with the armed groups, NUP and Sudanese Congress Party all disputing the National Consensus Forces (NCF) of leftist groups.

 After the Sudanese Communist Party voiced its opposition to the formation of an FFC leadership body and opposition to any compromise with the armed groups, Al Mahdi resigned, expressing hope that Sudan Call’s structure will be reviewed.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AFP - Sudan drops 8 Darfur rebel death sentences to 'build confidence'

19/9/19: AFP - Sudan drops 8 Darfur rebel death sentences to 'build confidence'

 AFP reports that Sudan’s sovereign council said that it has annulled death sentences against 8 Darfuri rebels, a move aimed at “building confidence" with armed groups as new authorities attempt to bring peace to the war-torn region.

 The sovereign council said it had also ordered the release of several other rebels who had previously battled government forces in Darfur.

 The eight whose death sentences were cancelled are from the Sudan Liberation Army - Abdel Wahid group, sovereign council member Mohamed Al-Faki said in a statement.

 The ruling sovereign council has also said it will work to end Darfur’s marginalisation.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune – Remove Sudan from terror list, calls UN chief

19/9/19: Sudan Tribune – Remove Sudan from terror list, calls UN chief

 Sudan Tribune reports that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres joined calls for Sudan’s removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

 Hailing Sudan’s power-sharing agreement, Guterres said: "Sudan is a matter of great hope for us. I believe that what was possible in the dialogue in Sudan demonstrates that all political conflicts can be solved by dialogue (...), and this should be a lesson for everywhere else in the world.”

 Calling for the international community to support Sudan, Guterres noted Sudan’s dire economic situation, warning that failure to support the interim government will

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: AP- In new Sudan, women want more freedom, bigger political role

19/9/19: AP- In new Sudan, women want more freedom, bigger political role, by Samy Magdy

 AP’s feature piece quotes from two woman activists in Sudan – schoolteacher Khalda Saber and Wifaq Gurashi.

 Saber, who spent 40 days in detention after rallying fellow teachers to join the anti-Bashir uprising said that women had a “bigger interest and motivation” to make the revolution happen, citing laws that “activists say stifle women’s rights.”

 After documenting RSF rights violations against women, Saber faced threats that made her leave Sudan for Cairo.

 Gurashi called for the government to prioritise annulling all laws that restrict women’s movement and freedoms, and implement policies that offer broader opportunities for women and fair representation. However, she added that the “traditional way of thinking in this masculine and authoritarian society,” is an obstacle to progress.