Negotiated settlement should ensure restoration of civilian government in Sudan: Godfrey
July 10, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – U.S. Ambassador to Sudan John Godfrey has called for a negotiated settlement that ensures the restoration of a civilian government rather than a return to military rule as was the case prior to the outbreak of the war.
During a hearing on June 22 before a U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee, Molly Phee, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, stated that the Jeddah process aimed at ending the fighting in Sudan had been adjourned because “the format is not succeeding in the way that we want.”
This statement indicates that the U.S. administration sought an alternative approach to restoring a civilian government in Sudan and persuading the warring parties to transfer power, not only ending the war.
In a tweet posted after arriving in Addis Ababa on Monday, Godfrey emphasized that the belligerents in Sudan “must find a negotiated exit” from the crisis. He further pointed out that a military solution would lead to an unacceptable human cost and damage to the country.
He further strongly condemned calls to reject a negotiated solution as “irresponsible and inconsistent” with the desires of Sudanese civilians to end the violence.
“Reaching a negotiated settlement does not – and cannot – mean returning to the status quo that existed before April 15,” he emphasized.
This statement reflects the widely shared belief that neither the army leaders accused of colluding with Sudanese Islamists, nor the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) accused of looting the country’s resources and committing grave human rights violations, should be allowed to rule the country again.
Meanwhile, Phee held a meeting with former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok to discuss U.S. support for civilian initiatives aimed at establishing a new process for a civilian-led democratic transition.
“We agreed on the need to support an inclusive and transparent process that represents the full diversity of the Sudanese people, including civil society, Resistance Committees, the peripheries, youth, and women,” she said in a tweet following the meeting.
Hamdok had been chosen by the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) to lead their government in 2019. He is now working as a civil society activist to support efforts to restore a civilian government in Sudan under the auspices of a foundation established in the UAE, where he currently resides.
On Monday, FFC groups met with the Ethiopian Prime Minister and the Kenyan President to discuss ways to facilitate an inclusive political dialogue among Sudanese parties to restore civilian governance in Sudan.
(ST)