UK discusses crisis in Sudan with Burhan and Minnawi

On Tuesday, a British official discussed the political crisis in the country with Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council and the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC).

This was during two separate meetings between the Director of African Affairs at the British Foreign Office, Simon Mustard, in Khartoum and the Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the FFC leadership.

These forces are allied with the army and supportive of Al-Burhan’s decisions, and they represent political entities that call for dialogue and accord on national issues.

The Transitional Sovereignty Council said, in a statement, that Al-Burhan and Mustard discussed internal developments in Sudan and “the possibility of benefiting from Britain in advancing the dialogue towards the goals and objectives awaited by the Sudanese people.”

On Tuesday, Mustard began a two-day visit to Khartoum, during which he will meet with a number of officials.

After his meeting with Mustard, the Head of the FFC political communication authority, Minni Arcua Minnawi, stated that the meeting addressed a number of issues related to the political crisis in Sudan, during which views were exchanged.

Minnawi added, in statements to the press followed by Anadolu News Agency correspondent, “We explained the meetings that took place by the National Accord with political and societal forces and activists.”

“Now the situation moving towards the better and we are willing to invite all parties to participate in the next government. Let us move forward towards the constitutional and political declaration and the development of the transitional government program through mutual consent among the nation’s components,” said Minnawi.

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On Thursday, the FFC announced that they had decided to form a higher political committee to discuss the issues of the transitional period.

Since 25 October, 2021, Sudan has witnessed popular protests calling for the return of democratic civil rule, and rejecting exceptional measures taken by Al-Burhan on 25 October, 2021, including the dissolution of the Sovereignty Council and the Council of Ministers.

Those who reject these measures accuse Al-Burhan of carrying out a military coup, which he denied, and said that it aims to “correct the course of the transitional phase” and pledged to hand over power through elections or a national consensus.

Prior to these measures, Sudan had been living, since 21 August, 2019, a transitional phase that is supposed to last 53 months, ending with holding elections in early 2024.

It was decided that the army, civilian forces and armed movements that signed a peace agreement with the government in 2020, would share power during that stage.