UAE supports Sudan’s ongoing political process, envoy tells al-Burhan
February 24, 2023 (KHARTOUM) — Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs reiterated the support of his government to the framework agreement in Sudan.
The official Eremites News Agency (WAM) on Friday reported that Al-Nahyan was in Khartoum where he met with Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Head of the Sovereign Council without giving the date of the meeting.
The military-led Council did not issue a statement about the visit. However, A Saudi media Al-Sharq reported that the meeting took place on Thursday to discuss the ongoing political process.
Al-Nahyan “emphasized the UAE’s support for the framework agreement recently signed between the Sudanese parties to address the current political crisis and make the transitional period a success (…),” WAM said.
On December 5, 2022, General al-Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdn Daglo “Hemetti” and various political forces led by the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) signed the Political Framework Agreement, which deal aims to end the military coup and restore a civilian-led government.
However, al-Burhan recently seemed to change his mind after determining the parties to the agreement with the other signatories. Nowadays, he calls to open the agreement for more political groups.
The army leader is at odds with the FFC and Hemetti who calls to implement the signed agreement with the political forces and hand over power to civilians.
On February 19, Hemetti reiterated his support for the political process based on the framework agreement and commitment to merge his Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the national army. He was responding to al-Burhan’s statements about his paramilitary troops.
After that, he travelled on an unannounced visit to the UAE.
On February 23, the Sovereign Council stated that Hemetti discussed the political situation with Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister.
The statement added that Mansour stressed the UAE’s support for the framework agreement.
It is worth mentioning that the Gulf country is a member of the U.S.-led QAUD supporting the efforts of the Trilateral Mechanism to restore a civilian government in Sudan.
(ST)