Al-Burhan relinquishes mediation between FFC and non-signatories

January 23, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – Sovereign Council Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has relinquished efforts to narrow the gaps between the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) the Democratic Bloc Sudan Tribune learned on Monday.

In a meeting held on Monday evening, Al-Burhan informed the representatives of the Democratic Bloc of his decision to “withdraw mediation between the two coalitions,” identical sources told Sudan Tribune after the meeting.

Al-Burhan added that the FFC refuses to accept all the components of the Democratic Bloc in the process.

The meeting was attended by SLM leader Minni Minnawi and JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim among others.

The FFC say they are ready to have Minnawi and Ibrahim because they are signatories of the Juba peace agreement. They say the other groups have no political weight and were fabricated to support the coup d’état.

Al-Burhan’s decision intervenes as Egypt plans to hold a meeting on the Sudanese crisis in Cairo that was rejected by the FFC and welcomed by the non-signatories.

In an interview with Sudan Tribune earlier this month, the JEM leader confirmed al-Burhan’s mediation and disclosed that the FFC declined to participate in a joint committee to bridge the gaps between the two sides.

In a meeting held in Nyala on January 19, Ibrahim said the Democratic Bloc and the military leaders agreed to draft a new political agreement to replace the framework agreement.

“The meeting agreed to work collectively in order to reach a new agreement that removes all the shortcomings of the framework agreement,” he said, adding that “the next agreement will be better than the current one.”

The military leaders publically several times reaffirmed their commitment to the framework agreement and vowed to work with the signatories to restore a civilian transitional government.

(ST)