An Advice or a Warning!!

Sabah Mohammed Al-Hassan

Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan expressed his reservations about one of the Quartet countries facilitating the dialogue in the Jeddah Platform, to the Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister, Waleed bin Abdulkarim El-Khereiji during his visit to Sudan, about which the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Hussein Awad, said in a press statement that the discussions dealt with the call to resume the Jeddah Platform.

He added that Al-Burhan affirmed Sudan’s keenness to make the Jeddah Platform a success as it is a foundation to build upon, stressing the necessity of implementing what was agreed upon in May 2023. The meeting also discussed the importance of expanding the base of facilitators in the Jeddah negotiations, indicating that the head of the Sovereignty Council expressed his reservations about the presence of any party supporting the rebellion.

There is no doubt in mind that Al-Burhan’s reservation about the “UAE” joining is because the general believes the country is supporting the Rapid Support Forces in the war. However, Al-Burhan’s satisfaction or lack thereof may not make much of a difference, because the mediation intended to make room for the “UAE” in the dialogue councils regardless, even after Sudan lodged a complaint against it. Although the “UAE” denied its connection to the war and stated it was seeking to aid in achieving peace, joining the negotiations -as opposed to being excluded from it- would actually be more helpful in putting an end to the war.

Which begs the question, without hesitation: What are the reasons that prompted the Deputy Foreign Minister to visit Al-Burhan ? If the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wanted to renew the call for negotiation, it would have issued a statement to the media calling on both parties to the conflict to return to negotiation.

But what is the message that the Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister delivered from Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Al-Burhan!! Especially since Al-Burhan didn’t reject the invitation submitted by the Kingdom to resume negotiations as he believes that Jeddah is the basis of the solution, according to the statements of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Therefore, it is expected that the Army will be flexible towards the negotiation process. Because the Saudi representative didn’t come for the sake of requesting and pleading, but he may have met with Al-Burhan, either to advise him of the necessity of not rejecting the invitation or to warn of what follows.
This stems from the seriousness of the current situation, which no longer requires standing on the threshold of hesitation for such a long period of time, especially since peace has become an urgent Sudanese, regional and international demand.
The general’s intransigence has become a blatant crime committed against the Sudanese citizen, whose first and main demand is to stop the war.

However, the return of the Army to the negotiations table after this visit may be more likely than before.

As soon as the Saudi Foreign Minister left Sudanese territory, Abu Ahmed landed, shaking hands with Al-Burhan, in a quick visit that came immediately after the Cairo Conference.

This means that “Abiy Ahmed” came this time intending to take full advantage of the current estrangement between Al-Burhan and the Arab Republic of Egypt, which has changed its positions and methods of dealing with Al-Burhan.

But in this particular visit, the man seeks to achieve his country’s interests only, especially with regard to the issue of the Renaissance Dam, and making the assumption about the reasons for the visit being to show support for the government of Sudan is no more than an accurate representation of the feeling of isolation and loss that Al-Burhan’s government is currently suffering from.

The latter unfortunately believes that everyone who extends a hand is a supporter, however, Ethiopia is the first signatory to the attendance book for the process of democratic civil transformation, which guarantees it greater interests with major countries and governments, and Al-Burhan’s government is definitely not one of them!!

In Conclusion:

The coalition of countries will participate in the discussions proposed by the African Union, of course, without any conditions, as it is the only political body that does not care about the list of those invited!