Category: General

The United States and Egypt have had “a shared interest” in getting Sudan’s democratic transition back on track since the Sudanese military seized power in late October, said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

On Monday, Blinken and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry opened the U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue.

“The military takeover that began on October 25 has been dangerously destabilizing,” Blinken said. “Restoration of the civilian-led transitional government is the only path to facilitating the aspirations of the Sudanese people, who have demonstrated remarkable bravery in repeatedly coming out in demand for democracy,” he added.

Egypt, one of Sudan’s neighbors, is notably absent from a recent joint statement issued by the U.S., United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, calling for a “full and immediate restoration” of Sudan’s “civilian-led transitional government and institutions.”

The statement also encourages releasing all those detained since the coup and lifting the state of emergency in Sudan.

A report by The Wall Street Journal said that Sudanese military chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan sought support from President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt in a meeting a day before the military takeover and that el-Sissi reassured his fellow general.
Shoukry did not address last month’s Sudanese military takeover, nor did he answer questions from reporters during the opening remarks.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the U.S. will discuss the “ongoing efforts to restore the civilian-led transitional government and to prevent violence in Sudan” with Egyptian officials.

“I’m going to allow the Egyptians to characterize the nuance of their position, but certainly this will be a topic of discussion with our Egyptian counterparts,” Price said during Monday’s press briefing.

The Sudanese military has been facing international condemnation since it overthrew the transitional government in which it shared power with civilian leaders. The U.S. immediately froze $700 million in economic support after the military takeover.

The U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue on Monday is the first bilateral dialogue held between the two nations since 2015.

The State Department said top diplomats from the two countries exchanged views on international and regional issues, human rights and pathways to increased cooperation on economic, security and cultural issues. Blinken also expressed appreciation for Egypt’s role in supporting regional stability, including the de-escalation of tensions in Gaza.

After Blinken’s visit to Cairo in late May, the U.S. said it planned to engage in a “constructive” human rights dialogue with Egypt as rights groups and activists drew attention to the country’s human rights record.
On Monday, Shoukry said that Egypt would “continue to forge our path towards a modern democratic state” but that “equal attention” needed to be dedicated to “political rights and civil liberties and economic and social rights” as “orderly change” offered Egypt “the best chance to succeed.”

Egyptian authorities had argued that the definition of human rights was more about improving the quality of life for a majority of people rather than political space or political tolerance.

Source: Voice of America

The African Union envoy for the Horn of Africa warned Monday that the window of opportunity is closing for a political resolution of the crisis in northern Ethiopia, as the country tips further toward all-out conflict.
“The time is now for collective actions in finding lasting solution to avoid further escalation of the situation, which may have direct effect on the strategic Horn of Africa region as a whole,” said former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is the AU’s special representative for the Horn of Africa.
Briefing the U.N. Security Council from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, where he arrived Thursday, Obasanjo said he has met separately with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and leaders of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), as well as some allied groups, in order to de-escalate tensions and seek the start of talks.
“All the leaders here in Addis Ababa and in the north agree individually that the differences between them are political and require political solutions through dialogue,” he said. “This, therefore, constitutes a window of opportunity that we can collectively tap into to assist the people of Ethiopia to find a lasting solution to the ongoing crisis.”
Obasanjo said he will visit the northern regions of Amhara and Afar on Tuesday, where the TPLF has expanded fighting, displacing thousands of people.
Fighting has escalated in the lead-up last week to the one-year anniversary of the start of the conflict.
Tigrayan forces said earlier this week they were advancing on Addis Ababa and that it could fall within months or even weeks.
The Ethiopian government declared a six-month state of emergency Tuesday and called on residents to defend their neighborhoods if rebels arrived in the capital.
Jaal Marroo, commander of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an ally of the TPLF, told Agence France-Presse that the OLA posed “no threat” to ordinary civilians but that Abiy and his ruling Prosperity Party have to be “completely removed and cleared” for reconciliation to begin.
“We will make Ethiopia – not just Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa – a peaceful, very stable place to live in. I am very confident there is not going to be conflict after Abiy Ahmed’s regime,” he said.
Ethiopia’s U.N. ambassador blamed some countries and Western media for encouraging the TPLF.
“It is emboldened to a level that it threatens to unseat a popularly elected federal government and destabilize a nation of 112 million people,” Ambassador Taye Atske-Selassie said of the rebels. “We again reiterate our plea for the support of this group that have been providing it with communications equipment, satellite information, weapons and even fighters to desist from this.”
Civil war concerns growing
The United Nation’s political chief warned that the conflict has “reached disastrous proportions” and if not immediately halted could see Africa’s second-most-populous country engulfed in all-out civil war.
“What is certain is that the risk of Ethiopia descending into widening civil war is only too real,” Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council. “That would bring about a humanitarian catastrophe and consume the future of such an important country.”
DiCarlo said the fighting already threatens regional stability in the Horn of Africa.
“The political repercussions of intensifying violence in the wider region would be immense, compounding the many crises besetting the Horn of Africa,” she added.
“The longer this conflict goes on, the harder the road to peace becomes and the more people will die,” U.S. envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. “And as you heard from High Representative Obasanjo, the window of opportunity is limited, and time is running out. I urge all parties — all parties — in the strongest possible terms to back away from the brink and lead their people toward peace.”
She added that accusations that the United States is biased toward one side are false.
“Let me be crystal clear: We condemn violence on all sides. We condemn any and all human rights violations and abuses committed by all sides.”
Alice Wairimu Nderitu, U.N. special adviser on the prevention of genocide, expressed concern in a statement Monday at the increase of ethnically and religiously motivated hate speech, ethnic profiling and incitement to violence.
“These all constitute risk factors for atrocity crimes,” she warned.
Intensive diplomacy
In addition to Obasanjo, U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths wrapped up a four-day visit to Ethiopia on Monday.
During his mission, he traveled to Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, where the government maintains a de facto blockade on the delivery of humanitarian assistance. The U.N. said no aid has gotten in since October 18, and more than 5 million people are in dire need.
Griffiths also met with Abiy on Friday and with other senior federal government officials.
U.S. Horn of Africa envoy Jeffrey Feltman has also been in the region since Thursday. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Feltman is currently in Addis Ababa.

Source: Voice of America

Tens of thousands of Ethiopians rallied in Addis Ababa on Sunday in support of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government as federal troops fight rebellious forces who are threatening to march on the city.

Some demonstrators denounced the United States, which is among the foreign powers that have called for a cease-fire as a yearlong war that has killed thousands of people intensified amid rebel advances last weekend.

The United States, the U.N. Security Council, the African Union, and Kenya and Uganda have called in recent days for a cease-fire.

Abiy's government has pledged to keep fighting. On Friday, the government said it had a responsibility to secure the country, and urged its international partners to stand with Ethiopia's democracy.

Some of those gathered in Meskel Square in central Addis Ababa draped themselves in the national flag. Many singled out the United States for criticism.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday accused Ethiopia of "gross violations" of human rights and said it planned to remove the country from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade agreement.

"Shame on you USA," read one demonstrator's placard, while another said the United States should stop "sucking Ethiopia's blood."

Other demonstrators expressed anger at the U.S. call for the government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) to begin talks.

The conflict in the north of the country started a year ago when forces loyal to the TPLF seized military bases in the Tigray region. In response, Abiy sent troops, who initially drove the TPLF out of the regional capital, Mekelle, but have faced a sharp reversal since June this year.

"Why does the U.S. government not negotiate with terrorists like al-Shabab?" said 37-year-old Tigist Lemma, referring to an al-Qaida linked militant group in Somalia. "They want to destroy our country like they did to Afghanistan. They will never succeed, we are Ethiopians."

Speaking at the rally, Addis Ababa Mayor Adanech Abebe invoked Ethiopia's history of resisting colonial power to justify the war.

The conflict has killed thousands of people, forced more than 2 million from their homes and left 400,000 people in Tigray facing famine.

On Sunday, U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths and the AU's special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo, landed in Mekelle, one humanitarian source in Ethiopia and one person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

A spokesperson for the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ethiopia did not respond to a request for comment, and U.N. officials in New York were not immediately reachable. AU spokesperson Ebba Kalondo did not respond to a request for comment.

"I can confirm only that they are both here and we are having discussions," TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda told Reuters.

Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not respond to a request for comment on the officials' visit.

'No youth' to front lines

During the Addis Ababa rally, there was one call for restraint, from popular musician Tariku Gankisi, whose songs call for unity of all Ethiopians.

"Let no youth go to the front lines to fight, let the elders go holding the fresh grass and ask for reconciliation," Tariku told the crowd, before his microphone was switched off, it was unclear by whom. Fresh grass is a symbol of peace in the country.

A state of emergency declared by the government on Tuesday allows it to order citizens of military age to undergo training and accept military duties.

Reuters has not been able to confirm independently the extent of the TPLF advance. The TPLF and their allies told Reuters last week they were 325 km (200 miles) from the capital. The government accuses the group of exaggerating its gains.

The government has also complained about foreign media coverage of the conflict and some people at the rally held signs denouncing "fake news" in Ethiopia.

Billene Seyoum, Abiy's spokesperson, said in a Twitter post late on Saturday: "Orchestrated media propaganda against Ethiopia is escalating ... Despite it all Ethiopia will overcome!"

Source: Voice of America

The West African regional grouping ECOWAS on Sunday hardened its stance against military-ruled Mali and Guinea, imposing new individual sanctions and calling on both countries to honor timetables for a return to democracy.

The Economic Community of West African States "has decided to sanction all those implicated in the delay" in organizing elections set for February 27 in Mali, ECOWAS Commission President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou told AFP after a summit of the 15-nation group in the Ghanaian capital Accra.

He said Mali had "officially written" to Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, who holds the rotating presidency of ECOWAS, to inform him that the Sahel country could not hold elections as planned.

"All the transition authorities are concerned by the sanctions which will take immediate effect," Brou said, adding that they included travel bans and assets freezes.

In a final declaration following Sunday's summit, ECOWAS said it "highly deplores the lack of progress" towards staging elections in Mali.

As for Guinea, where soldiers seized power on September 5, ECOWAS decided to uphold the country's suspension from the bloc as well as sanctions against individual junta members and their families.

It also reiterated its demand for the "unconditional release" of president Alpha Conde, 83, who has been under house arrest since his ouster.

In the final declaration, it praised the adoption of a "transition charter," the appointment of a civilian prime minister and the formation of a transitional government.

But it called on the authorities to "urgently submit a detailed timetable... towards the holding of elections" in the country of 13 million people.

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who overthrew Conde after months of discontent against his government, had promised to restore civilian rule after a transition period of unspecified length.

At a September summit, ECOWAS demanded that Guinea hold elections within six months.

The regional leaders also demanded that the Mali junta adhere "strictly" to that country's transition timetable.

ECOWAS rescinded economic sanctions against Mali and its suspension from the organization when the junta headed by Colonel Assimi Goita pledged a transition of no more than 18 months.

But Goita went on to mount a new coup in May, deposing transitional president Bah Ndaw and his prime minister, Moctar Ouane.

ECOWAS suspended Mali once again, but did not apply new sanctions.

Swathes of Mali, a vast nation of 19 million people, lie outside of government control because of a jihadist insurgency that emerged in the north in 2012, before spreading to the center of the country as well as neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Brou noted that the deployment of contractors from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner in Mali was "one of the concerns of the heads of state."

Source: Voice of America

Sudanese pro-democracy groups launched two days of civil disobedience and strikes on Sunday to protest last month's military coup. Participation appeared to be limited because of continuing interruptions to internet and phone connections.

Local resistance committees and the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which led demonstrations in the uprising that toppled then-president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, are organizing the protests to try to reverse the military takeover.

People were out on Sunday on the streets in the center of the capital, Khartoum, though there was less traffic than usual, residents said.

Members of a teachers' union said that security forces used tear gas to break up their sit-in at the education ministry building for Khartoum State staged to oppose any handover to military appointees. Some 87 people were arrested, the union said.

In the Burri neighborhood of Khartoum and across the river in the Ombada area of Omdurman, police also used tear gas to break up protests, eyewitnesses said.

There were protests also in the cities of Medani, Nyala, and Atbara, where hundreds protested the reappointment of Bashir loyalists in local government, eyewitnesses said.

Internet disrupted

Some hospitals and medical staff in Khartoum were working normally while others were on strike.

"A number of people did not know about the call for civil disobedience because of the internet cut," said one resident in central Khartoum who asked not to be named.

Internet services have been badly disrupted since the October 25 coup, and phone coverage remains patchy. Though daily life came to a near standstill, shops, roads, and some banks have reopened since the military takeover.

The coup halted a power-sharing arrangement between the military and civilians that had been agreed to after Bashir's overthrow and was meant to lead to democratic elections by late 2023.

Top civilians including several ministers were detained, and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was placed under house arrest.

Since the coup, mediation efforts involving the United Nations have sought the release of detainees and a return to power-sharing, but sources from the ousted government say those efforts have stalled.

On Sunday the commander in chief of the military, Abdel-Fattah Burhan, met an Arab League delegation, which stressed the importance of dialogue and the democratic transition, his office said in a statement.

Burhan told the delegation the military was committed to achieving "the Sudanese people's ambitions," the statement said.

Activists demanding that the military exit politics have announced a schedule of protests leading up to mass rallies on November 13 under the slogan "No negotiation, no partnership, no compromise."

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets against military rule in two demonstrations before and after the October 25 coup.

Western powers have paused economic assistance to Sudan and say that relief on tens of billions of dollars of foreign debt is at risk unless there is a return to democratic transition.

Source: Voice of America