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Sudan: Army chief pledges full cooperation with PM for the success of transitional period

December 3, 2021 at 3:31 pm

Lieutenant General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan in Khartoum, Sudan on September 22, 2021. [Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency]

Lieutenant General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burha, head of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, commander-in-chief of the army, pledged full cooperation with Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok for the success of the transitional period leading to free and fair elections.

During his meeting with Volker Perthes, head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Al-Burhan urged the United Nations to “provide adequate humanitarian support to Sudan to overcome humanitarian difficulties during the transitional period”.

The president of the Sovereignty Council called on the Sudanese people to “stand with and support the government that Hamdok will form during the forthcoming period.” He also called on the political forces to take advantage of the remainder of the transitional period in preparation for the election.

Hamdok will quit if a political agreement he signed with the military last week is not implemented or fails to receive backing from political factions, Reuters reported a source close to him saying on Wednesday.

Sudan: return of premier ‘did not end crisis,’ says UN

Hamdok was released from house arrest and restored to his job under the deal reached on 21 November, four weeks after he was removed in a military takeover.

The takeover ended a 2019 power-sharing agreement between the military and political groups involved in toppling former leader Omar al-Bashir. Those groups have rejected the agreement, as have resistance committees that have organised a campaign of protests.

The latest of those protests, on Tuesday, drew tens of thousands of people to central Khartoum under the slogan “No partnership, no negotiation, no compromise”.

Further protests are planned for December on key anniversaries from the 2018 start of protests against Al-Bashir.