Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Khalil Charles
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Sudanese believe the attempted assassination of their PM was an orchestrated hoax
The shocking news of the attempted assassination of Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok is an indication of the political turmoil that threatens to derail the democratic aspirations of the country. No immediate claims of responsibility have come forward, although the finger of blame points at agents of the former...
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Are the normalisation terms already agreed by Sudan and Israel?
Since Sudan’s transitional head of state Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 3 February, an unverified list of demands reflecting agreed points has emerged. This list outlines the conditions that Sudan must fulfil in order to be removed from the US list of state sponsors...
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The ‘Sudan First’ policy ignores the Palestinians to normalise relations with Israel
Details of the meeting between Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sudan’s transitional head of state General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan suggest that the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two countries is closer than ever before. Speaking to the media, Al-Burhan described his meeting with Netanyahu as “comfortable”, held...
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Is Sudan’s power-sharing government about to fall apart?
The gap between the military and civilian government in Sudan appears to be widening. The rift is threatening the political stability of the country and the power-sharing agreement. In less than ten days, three major disagreements have rocked the transitional government pitting the civilian rulers in direct conflict with...
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Sudan’s 2020 prospects rest on the fate of ex-President Omar Al-Bashir
For many people in Sudan, the conviction of 27 intelligence officers for the killing of a protestor is a step in the right direction, but it raises questions about Omar Al-Bashir’s official role as the former President and Commander in Chief of the armed forces. Did he give specific...
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Sudan’s late budget announcement is shrouded in mystery
Four months into the rule of Sudan’s transitional government and the cracks are beginning to appear. The 2020 budget has yet to be revealed because of major differences emerging between factions within the Freedom and Change movement. The issue centres on the removal of subsidies on bread and fuel,...
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Sudan hovers between hope and fear on first anniversary of protest movement
As Sudan celebrates the first anniversary of the beginning of the protests which led to the fall of the three-decade old regime of Omar Al-Bashir, it also completes the first 100 days of its new government led by a coalition of army generals and the Freedom and Change movement....
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Amid economic woes Sudan’s revolution hits an identity crisis
An arrest warrant for two leading members of the 1989 coup d’etat; a lawsuit against a conservative scholar accused of breaching religious freedom, an accusation the curriculum is being re-written to take out references to the Quran are just three issues changing and challenging the social fabric and identity...
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Trump's refusal to remove Sudan from terror list may force interim government to make tough decisions
The decision by United States’ President Donald Trump to continue sanctions against Sudan is the clearest indication yet of the unwillingness to acknowledge or accept the progress made by Sudan’s December revolution and its new interim government. Following last week’s visit by a delegation led by Sudanese Finance Minister,...
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How could Turkey respond if US imposed sanctions over Russia’s S-400 delivery?
With the arrival at the Murted Airbase outside Ankara of Russian planes, over the past six days, carrying the S-400 missile defence system, the expected fall out between the United States and Turkey still threatens to bring relations between the two countries to an all-time diplomatic low. Turkey must...
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Sudan’s ‘revolution’ was a military coup in disguise
According to well-informed sources, on the night of 22 February this year, as the invited guests in Sudan’s presidential palace gardens and television crews waited for the President to arrive and address the nation, the country’s former head of intelligence was also waiting. Enraged by President Omar Al-Bashir’s words,...
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Sudan’s revolution fades as the Transitional Military Council rejects mediation
Few Sudanese support the notion that the ideals of the revolution should be abandoned, but most have surrendered to the reality that the desired civilian transitional rule is unlikely to be delivered anytime soon. The latest Ethiopian mediation efforts proposed by Mohammed Darir, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed’s envoy,...
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Competing visions about civilian rule make any agreement in Sudan unlikely
Historians and political scientists who have followed recent events in Sudan closely will point to the irony of the current dispute between the military and protest groups over the definition of, and demand for, civilian rule. In 1999, a well-documented split between former President Omar Al-Bashir and National Assembly...
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Gulf countries, Egypt will not allow Sudan to hand power to civilians
There are at least a dozen reasons, some fictitious, why Sudan’s ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) appears reluctant to give up power, but protest groups are becoming increasingly aware that the two major Gulf states – Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – and Egypt have a vested...
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Why did the talks between Sudan’s Transitional Military Council and protest groups break down?
If the walls of Sudan’s presidential palace could speak, they would tell of a stark difference in the atmosphere of the talks between the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) before and after the 72-hour delay imposed by the TMC last week. The...
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Sudan’s transitional agreement and its importance for Africa and the Arab world
The agreement between the signatories to the Declaration for Freedom and Change and the Transitional Military Council in Khartoum has not been fleshed out in great detail, but the historic deal has paved the way for a new Sudan and a new model of change in Africa and the...
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Climate of mistrust created by Bashir’s 30-year rule threatens Sudan’s stability
There is an almost hysterical level of mistrust in Sudan which in the view of some observers is crippling the country’s attempt to reach an agreement about its future. For some that future has little to do with an understanding of policy and ideology, and everything to do with...
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The self-inflicted end of Bashir’s 30-year rule
Here in Sudan, claims of responsibility for the downfall of the government of Omar Al-Bashir have become commonplace. On the dusty walls of buildings are graffiti-like writings proclaiming hashtags “just fall and still not fallen”. Sudanese capital Khartoum is awash with major players claiming victory for the removal of...
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The return of communism and the battle to define Sudan’s true identity
Almost 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall which brought communism to an abrupt end in Europe, communism has emerged alive and flourishing in Sudan. After last week’s removal of President Omar Al Bashir from power, it has now become clear that the campaign was partly funded and...
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Splits within Sudan’s defence forces embolden the protest movement
The events unfolding in Sudan are unprecedented. Tens of thousands of protestors have gathered for a fourth consecutive day outside the Armed Forces headquarters in the capital Khartoum demanding the removal of President Omar Al-Bashir. For the second night, attempts by the police and security forces to disperse protestors staging...
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There is no real change in Sudan’s new government and protests are ongoing
The Sudanese President’s government reshuffle following the imposition of a state of emergency on 22 February has been greeted with mixed reactions. The most outstanding feature of the changes is the lack of any appointments worthy of mention. Many of the same faces remain or have returned to government...
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Qur’an recitation saves protestor from torture in Sudan
Outside an unmarked building in a residential area of Khartoum, Um Mohammed crouched down with her head between her knees unable to stand any longer. She and a few family members were waiting for news of her eldest son detained by security forces after being bundled into a pick-up...
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Is Sudan’s president safe or has he created a false sense of security?
Permanently dressed in his army fatigues when seen in public, President Field Marshall Omar Hassan Al-Bashir has downed his civilian attire and has rolled up his sleeves to begin the task of rebuilding the country. Despite the pockets of continuing unrest, calls for civil disobedience and opposition demands for...
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Sudan’s President agreed to resign as party leader but was prevented by the army
As the world awaited President Omar Al-Bashir’s speech on Friday, frantic negotiations resulted in a last-minute change of direction. Intelligence Chief Salah Abdullah Gosh had been told to announce to the world’s media that Al-Bashir had agreed to step down as the leader of the National Congress Party (NCP)...