U.S. top diplomat for Africa visits Sudan to encourage power transfer
June 11, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Tibor Nagy will hold talks with Sudanese stakeholders on Wednesday to encourage the resumption of talks over power transfer to a civilian government.
Nagy’s visit to Khartoum comes within an African tour from 12 to 23 June to Sudan, Mozambique, and South Africa to discuss bilateral relations and to highlight the importance of democracy, human rights.
“In Sudan, he will meet with members of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) and the Transitional Military Council,” said a statement released by the State Department.
“He will call for a cessation of attacks against civilians and urge parties to work toward creating an enabling environment between the FFC and TMC for talks to resume,” further said the statement.
The killing of over 100 peaceful protesters by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 3 June triggered condemnation from the U.S. lawmakers and activists who increased pressures on Washington to take swift action to prevent further attacks by the notorious militiamen who committed atrocities and grave human right violations in Darfur.
President Trump who cancelled the post of US special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan has finally accepted to reappoint the former special envoy for Sudan Donald Booth as special adviser to the assistant secretary for African affairs.
Booth who worked closely with the former government of ousted Omer al-Bashir and Sudanese opposition will be in Nagy’s delegation to Khartoum.
In Addis Ababa, he will meet with African Union representatives and Ethiopian government officials to discuss the situation in Sudan and efforts to support a political solution.
Reports from Khartoum say the FFC and TMC will ink an agreement on the formation of the transitional institutions. As the military council finally has accepted to give the opposition the presidency of the Sovereign Council and the majority of its membership.
Freeze assists of TMC’s generals
In an op-ed published in Politico on Tuesday, George Clooney and John Prendergast called on the U.S. Congress and President Trump’s Administration to freeze and seize assets of Sudan’s military leaders responsible for brutal attacks on peaceful protesters.
The two activists urged strong actions including targeted sanctions against the members of the ruling junta and actions by the U.S Treasury, aimed at preventing an escalation of mass violence in Sudan.
(ST)