IGAD is ready to support Sudanese to settle ongoing crisis, says Kabeho

January 30, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – IGAD said ready to support a Sudanese owned process to end the political crisis that sparked in the country three months after a military coup.

IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu arrived on Sunday in Khartoum to hold political talks with the military and political leaders as the regional body intends to play a role together with the African Union in the settlement of the Sudanese crisis.

After his arrival in Khartoum, Gebeyehu met the envoys of the IGAD countries to Sudan to consult on the situation in the country.

In a tweet after the meeting, he said all of them “affirmed the need for IGAD to support a process that is led and owned by the people of Sudan”.

“IGAD stands ready to support,” he stressed.

The visit comes as the east African block plans to hold a summit on Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia next March in Uganda.

In a meeting held on January 25, the African Union’s Peace and Security Council urged the African Union Commission and the IGAD to mediate a solution for the political stalemate in Sudan.

The acting Undersecretary at the Foreign Ministry Abdallah Omer Bashir welcomed “the efforts of the IGAD to bridge the gaps between the Sudanese parties,”  said the Sudanese foreign ministry after a meeting with Gebeyehu.

The efforts of the region in Sudan come, while the UN is undertaking consultations with the Sudanese parties within an effort aiming to pave the ground for an intra-Sudanese dialogue.

It is not clear if the African Union and IGAD intend to coordinate with the UNITAMS or not.

(ST)