Sudan

AU to form presidential committee led by Museveni, for Sudanese talks

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at the Speke Resort in Munyonyo on January 21, 2024, when the G77+China summit began. (Photo: X/Yoweri Museveni)

By Mwangi Maina | Monday, June 24, 2024

The Peace and Security Council members met last week under the chairmanship of Yoweri Museveni, whose country, Uganda is chairing the AUPSC in June.

The African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) has directed AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki to urgently establish an ad hoc presidential committee, comprising one head of state and government from each region of the continent, led by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni.

This committee will facilitate face-to-face talks between the warring Sudanese factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.

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The Peace and Security Council members met last week under the chairmanship of Yoweri Museveni, whose country, Uganda, is chairing the AUPSC in June.

They emphasised that an acceptable ceasefire can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the key actors.

AUPSC also called upon the chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, to meet under the auspices of the AU and IGAD without further delay.

The decision was made during the 1218th meeting held at the level of Heads of State and Government on June 21.

The chief of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo speaks to the Sudanese army commander, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in a past event. (Photo: AFP)

Museveni, the AUPSC Chairman, AUC Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Chair of the AU High-Level Panel on Sudan, Workneh Gebeyehu, IGAD Executive Secretary, and Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Executive Secretary of the League of Arab States, were present at the meeting.

AUPSC further called for an extraordinary summit to address the escalating war in Sudan between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"The meeting proposes the convening of an extraordinary summit of the AU to consider the situation in Sudan; and, in this regard, requests the AU Commission, in consultation with the Chairperson of the Union, to consult on the date and venue of the aforementioned extraordinary summit,” read a communiqué issued after thereafter.

The IGAD and the Saudi-US-led Jeddah process attempted to organise such a meeting but failed because Sudanese military leaders accused the IGAD of bias and asked the Jeddah mediators to ensure the RSF implements a previous agreement signed in May 2023 before such a meeting.

The conflict has notably led to massive displacement, with nearly 9.4 million people forcibly displaced both within and outside Sudan.

Over 7.2 million people are displaced internally, while more than 1.9 million have sought refuge in neighbouring countries like Chad, Ethiopia, and Egypt.

Sudanese refugees gather as Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams assist the war wounded from West Darfur, Sudan, in Adre hospital, Chad June 16, 2023. (Photo: Mohammad Ghannam/MSF/Handout via Reuters)