AU backs Sudan-based dialogue initiative, drawing fire from civilian opponents
August 31, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – The African Union on Monday endorsed a new Sudanese dialogue initiative aimed at ending the country’s civil war, drawing swift condemnation from civilian and political groups who dismissed the effort as a military-backed attempt to legitimise the conflict.
A Khartoum-based preparatory committee of public figures launched consultations on Sunday to coordinate talks with political and civil society actors, with security guarantees from the army-led government.
The African Union Commission said it welcomed the dialogue led by an “independent committee of Sudanese elders”, adding that the move complements international mediation tracks under the AU-led Quintet Mechanism, which includes the U.N., the EU, IGAD, and the Arab League.
The AU reiterated that any political process must remain fully inclusive, aiming for a unified, sovereign Sudan run by legitimate civilian institutions.
However, key civilian coalitions and political parties, including the National Umma Party secretariat led by al-Wathiq al-Berair and the Sudanese Congress Party, rejected the AU’s stance as premature, warning that the process lacks transparent criteria for participation and risks converting battlefield gains into political leverage.
The Declaration of Principles forces, an alliance comprising the Somoud Coalition and Abdel Wahid al-Nur’s Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW), accused the AU of an “irresponsible” endorsement of an army-controlled process.
“The initiative is steered by one warring party within its areas of control to legitimize the continuation of the war, not to end it,” the group said in a statement, warning that holding talks under military oversight without an active ceasefire risks entrenching the de facto division of the country.
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had announced support for the initiative on August 14, offering legal and political protections for participating factions.
Efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began in April 2023, have repeatedly stalled over terms of participation and preconditions regarding Islamist factions linked to the former regime.