UAE: Arab states support Sudan transition, want stability

Arab states support a transition in Sudan that balances the ambitions of the people with stability, a senior United Arab Emirates minister said today.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia last month pledged $3 billion in aid to Sudan, throwing a lifeline to the country’s new military leaders who ousted president Omar Al-Bashir after weeks of mass protests.

Protesters and activists have been negotiating with the Transitional Military Council (TMC) to form a joint civilian-military body to oversee a transition, but are deadlocked over who would control the new council.

“Totally legitimate for Arab states to support an orderly & stable transition in Sudan. One that carefully calibrates popular aspirations with institutional stability,” Reuters reported the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, saying on Twitter

Totally legitimate for Arab states to support an orderly & stable transition in Sudan. One that carefully calibrates popular aspirations with institutional stability. We have experienced all-out chaos in the region & ,sensibly, don’t need more of it.

— د. أنور قرقاش (@AnwarGargash) May 1, 2019

“We have experienced all-out chaos in the region and, sensibly, don’t need more of it,” he added.

Sudanese opposition groups are calling for a civilian-led council to oversee the political transition. The TMC has shown no sign of willingness to relinquish ultimate authority.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are backing council head Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, through their participation the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

READ: Sudan army detains politician who criticised UAE

The UAE was quick to welcome Al-Burhan’s appointment and said it would look to accelerate aid to Sudan. Shortly after Al-Burhan’s nomination, Saudi Arabia said it would provide wheat, fuel and medicine to Sudan.

The financial aid provided by the two close allies, which includes a deposit of $500 million with the Sudanese central bank, is the first major publicly announced assistance to the African nation from Gulf states in several years.

The UAE and Saudi have worked to counter popular uprisings in a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa, helping Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi come to power by ousting the country’s first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi in a bloody coup in 2013.