January 10, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – Egypt has proposed an initiative to reach a “quick political settlement” in Sudan, announced the Egyptian ambassador in Khartoum after a meeting with the head of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, on Tuesday.
The Sudanese political forces and the army leaders launched on Sunday a process aiming to end the military rule and to restore a civilian transitional government facilitated by the Trilateral Mechanism with the support of the QUAD and the European Union.
However, the Egyptian Ambassador to Sudan Hani Salah officially presented to the head of the military-led government Abdel al-Fattah al-Burhan an initiative aiming to enhance the unity and stability of Sudan.
“The Egyptian initiative comes within the framework of a usual Egyptian role aimed at preserving Sudanese interests, the unity and stability of Sudan and facilitating all that would advance an intra-Sudanese dialogue that leads to a real, lasting and comprehensive settlement,” said Salah after the meeting.
Egypt declined to take part in a diplomatic coalition led by the U.S. with the participation of Saudi Arabia, the U.K and the UAE to end the October 25, 2022 coup d’état and backed the military leaders.
When the military leaders accepted to hand over power to a civilian government, Cairo encouraged the sick and old chief of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Mohamed Osman al-Mirhgani to return to Sudan with the hope that their historical ally participates in the transition and post-transitional period.
When a split occurred within the DUP due to the power struggle between Mohamed Osman’s two sons Alhassan and Gaffar over the leadership of the party, Cairo once again bet on the losing horse and backed Gaffar.
During a visit to Khartoum on January 2, Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel proposed to the Sudanese stakeholders to hold a meeting in Cairo, gathering the signatories and non-signatories of the political framework agreement.
His call was rejected by the signatories saying they do not need more actors but just seek to include two Darfur former groups because they are signatories of the Juba peace agreement.
Amani Al-Taweel an Egyptian expert on Sudan and Director of the African Program at the Center for Al-Ahram Political and Strategic Studies told Al-Jazeera channel on Tuesday that the Egyptian initiative aims to ensure that the divided DUP plays a role after the post-transition government.
“Egypt’s calculations may be based on the need for preserving the DUP unity in anticipation of upcoming elections. Its unity and political representation is an important issue for Egypt which has a deep relationship with this party,” Al-Taweel said.
She further added that the Egyptian officials believe that the DUP and the National Umma Party are the two political forces that would have significant political representation after the elections besides small political groups and the Islamist forces.
The Egyptian expert further asserted that Egypt had been excluded from the U.S.-led efforts to end the Sudanese crisis underscoring that it comes in line with a historical scheme aimed at disconnecting the two countries and driving out Sudan from the Arab world.
(ST)
