SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s hidden power struggle between Burhan, Hemedti over civil service

28/9/2022: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s hidden power struggle between Burhan, Hemedti over civil service

Sudan Tribune report on a power struggle between Sudan’s military leaders – the chair of the Sovereign Council and army chief Abdulfattah al-Burhan and Sovereign Council vice-president Himedti, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.

As Himedti expressed vehement opposition to integrating the RSF into the army back in May 2021, and used soft power to buy influence in the civil service, army circles grew concerned of the RSF’s growing strength making it on par with the national army.

According to Himedti’s advisors, al-Burhan sought to “set [Himedti] up for failure” by tasking him to lead an economic committee tackling an array of longstanding challenges.

Himedti had also initially refused to support al-Burhan’s 25 October 2021 military coup, after which al-Burhan started to reintegrate Islamists into the civil service - which political analyst Mohamed Idris said aimed to weaken Himedti’s leverage given Islamist’s animosity towards Himedti.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Al-Monitor - Muslim Brotherhood blamed for failed military coup in Sudan

28/9/2021: Al-Monitor - Muslim Brotherhood blamed for failed military coup in Sudan, by Baher al-Kady

Al-Monitor’s feature piece provides insights on the coup attempt, with Salah Halima, former assistant foreign minister, blaming the Islamist remnants of Omar al-Bashir’s ousted regime.

Halima states that “the Sudanese army has become ideological given the large-scale incorporation of Muslim Brotherhood members in the military institutions just like the rest of the state’s institutions”. Noting the division within the armed forces, Halima called for a single structure that would bring Sudan’s military and security components under one umbrella”. He further states that differences within both the civilian and military camps “serve as fertile ground for coup attempts”.

Khaled al-Tijani, head of Sudan’s Elaph newspaper, warned that the deteriorating economic and social conditions of Sudan will lead to “more coup attempts, even more violent than this one”.  

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Tensions between civilian and military govt components continue despite mediation efforts

28/9/2021: Radio Dabanga - Tensions between civilian and military govt components continue despite mediation efforts

Radio Dabanga report that tensions between the military and civilian members of the Sudanese government continue despite the efforts of the head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, to mediate between the two. 

Perthes said the UN was ready to hold comprehensive dialogue between the partners of the transitional period, calling on Sudan’s ruling partners to reduce escalation and media exchanges and focus on dialogue and cooperation instead.

Meanwhile, protests erupted across Sudan - in Khartoum, al-Gadarif, North Kordofan, Darfur, the Red Sea, Northern and White Nile states – in solidarity with the Empowerment Removal Committee after the joint forces’ guards were withdrawn from their office. The committee’s office in Central Darfur was plundered after the removal of guards.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple Sources – Sudan army and SLM-AW blame each other for Central Darfur clash

28/9/2020: Multiple Sources – Sudan army and SLM-AW blame each other for Central Darfur clash

• Radio Dabanga

• Sudan Tribune

 Sudanese government forces and Sudan Liberation Movement of Abdelwahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) blame each other for a clash in western Jebel Marra in Central Darfur.

 A statement issued by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) accused SLM-AW of attacking its positions and said that SAF responded to the attack.

 However, SLM-AW military spokesman, Waleed Abakar, said: “the Khartoum government forces infiltrated and launched an attack on our control sites in western Jebel Marra, and our forces were able in return to repel the attack.” Abakar claims that SLM-AW inflicted an unspecified number of casualties on the SAF, as well as destroying military equipment.

 Abakar emphasised the commitment of the movement’s forces to the unilateral cessation of hostilities, saying SLM-AW continued to renew it “in the hope of achieving comprehensive peace and completing the goals of the revolution”. He further emphasised his movement’s right to deter any attack targeting their areas of control.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune – Sudan’s negotiating team with SPLM-N al-Hilu has not been changed: statement

28/9/2020: Sudan Tribune – Sudan’s negotiating team with SPLM-N al-Hilu has not been changed: statement

 Sudan Tribune report that the ruling Sovereign Council of Sudan denied any change in the leadership of the government negotiating team for the Juba peace process, as demanded by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction of Abdelaziz al-Hilu (SPLM-N al-Hilu).

 The Sovereign Council said reports that the chairmanship of the government negotiating delegation had been removed from Himedti.

 SPLM-N al-Hilu withdrew from peace talks, claiming that Himedti “lacks neutrality”.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Stop punishing Sudanese who rid the world of supporter of terrorism, Hamdok says

28/9/19: Sudan Tribune - Stop punishing Sudanese who rid the world of supporter of terrorism, Hamdok says

 In a strongly worded message to the US president Donald Trump administration, Sudanese prime minister Abdalla Hamdok called for the US to stop the punishment inflicted on the Sudanese people who rid the world of a supporter of terrorism, Sudan Tribune reports.

 Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Hamdok said: “the people of Sudan were never a sponsor or supporter of terrorism, but it was the regime which they revolted and brought down.”

 Hamdok called on the US to stop punishing Sudanese people for “the sins of a regime that they were its first victim and the main actor of its overthrow.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune – World must support Sudanese democratic experience: UN’s Guterres

28/9/19: Sudan Tribune – World must support Sudanese democratic experience: UN’s Guterres

 Sudan Tribune reports that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his support for the Sudanese people and called on the international to do everything possible to back the efforts of the transitional government to achieve democratic reforms in Sudan.

 Speaking at the Sudan event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Guterres warned that if the Sudanese fail to achieve the current democratic transition,  their despair will have a worse fallout than the hardships endured in the past.

 "The international community has a strict obligation to do everything possible to help facilitate the conditions of success at the present Sudanese democratic experience," Guterres said, pointing to the enormous challenges that Sudan is facing.

 He called on the international community to remove Sudan’s designation as a terrorist-supporting state, lift all economic sanctions and mobilise massive financial support for development to make the current political gains durable.