SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Atlantic Council – The days of elite deals in Sudan should be over

11/4/2022: Atlantic Council – The days of elite deals in Sudan should be over, by Cameron Hudson

 

Atlantic Council senior fellow Cameron Hudson calls for the international community to strengthen their allegiance with the Sudanese people in order to prevent Sudan’s military leaders establishing a Security and Defence Council that paves the way for quick elections that provide surface-level legitimacy for the military.

 

Alongside proposing targeting sanctions on coup leaders, Hudson suggests that the international community adapt its public messaging according to Sudanese public demands and sentiments.

 

This would entail ending calls for the military to enact “confidence-building measures” as this “only plays into the existing discriminatory power dynamics in the country and elevate the security services as an equal, if not legitimate, part of Sudan’s political future”, with calls for “return to civilian-led transitional government…reflecting deafness to popular calls for a new way forward”. Instead, Hudson suggests that the military is reminded that “a return to the pre-revolution status quo is both impossible and unacceptable.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Burhan sacks Sudan’s Radio-TV Corporation director

11/4/2022: Sudan Tribune - Burhan sacks Sudan’s Radio-TV Corporation director

 

Abdulfattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese army and the ruling Sovereign Council, has fired the director of Sudan’s Radio and TV Corporation Luqman Ahmed.

 

Luqman was initially fired following the 25 October 2021 military coup, before being reinstated by former prime minister Abdallah Hamdok, and has now been fired again and replaced by Ibrahim al-Bura’i.

 

Informed sources told Sudan Tribune that Luqman’s removal might be triggered by the invitation of some representatives of the Resistance Committees in a talk show he presents, alongside his rejection of attempts by the Military Media Department to intervene in the management of the corporation and its programmes.

 

Al-Burhan has now replaced almost all officials appointed by the former prime minister Hamdok.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times - In Sudan, Omar al-Bashir Is Out and the Army Takes Over

11/4/19: New York Times – In Sudan, Omar al-Bashir Is Out and the Army Takes Over, by Alex De Waal

Sudan expert Alex de Waal calls for the US and African leaders to support Sudan’s democratic transition, arguing that “Sudan will remain at the precipice of bloodshed and turmoil,” without serious progress towards democracy and conflict resolution in Darfur and the Nuba Mountains.

De Waal attributes combined African and American mediation to ending the war with South Sudan, and goes on to highlight Egypt and Ethiopia’s “deep” interests in Sudan’s stability, and that the African Union envoy for Sudan, former South Africa president Thabo Mbeki, is “a veteran of the negotiated transition to democracy.”

De Waal also emphasises the US consensus on its Sudan policy, citing the Trump administration's lifting of sanctions from Sudan as "one of the rare continuities" from the Obama administration, before concluding that the American-African coalition must fill Sudan’s “dangerous vacuum.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Guardian - Omar al-Bashir is gone. It was Sudan's 30 years of anger that ousted him

11/4/19: Guardian - Omar al-Bashir is gone. It was Sudan’s 30 years of anger that ousted him, by Nesrine Malik

Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik argues that Omar Al Bashir was ousted by Sudanese people "armed with nothing but 30 years of anger,” despite the "international human rights industry" bearing down on him for years.

 Malik identifies Al Bashir's failure to keep the economy steady as his "fatal mistake," despite the regime "brutally [quashing]" resistance that “dates back to the very day he seized power.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Guardian – Qur’an and AK-47: the 30-year rule of Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir

11/4/19: Guardian – Qur’an and AK-47: the 30-year rule of Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, by Jason Burke

The Guardian’s Africa correspondent Jason Burke profiles Omar Al Bashir’s rise through Sudanese military ranks, his presidency, and his eventual downfall.

Burke notes that analysts attribute Al Bashir’s disposition by the army to the secession of oil-rich South Sudan, triggering a “massive” cut in revenues that impeded Al Bashir’s ability to use state resources to buy off his rivals.

Burke notes that the Darfur and South Sudan wars intensified international pressure on Al Bashir, before arguing that his efforts to mitigate the economic crisis by building warmer diplomatic relations with China, the US and key Gulf powers, were “insufficient to stave off disaster.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Guardian - Sudan protesters reject army takeover after removal of president

11/4/19: Guardian - Sudan protesters reject army takeover after removal of president, by Jason Burke

The Guardian reports that Sudanese protesters have vowed to continue their campaign for democratic reform, just hours after the army announced that Omar Al Bashir’s 30-year-rule would be replaced by a military-led transitional council.

Ahmed Al Montasser, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals Association, which has been organising the massive demonstrations, was quoted to say “we do not accept the government by the army for the next two years…The regime remains the same… This is a challenge to our people.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan's main protest group calls for demonstrations to continue: source

11/4/19: Reuters – Sudan’s main protest group calls for demonstrations to continue: source

Reuters reports that the Sudanese Professionals Association, the main organiser of protests against Al Bashir, has rejected Sudanese defence minister Awad Ibn Ouf’s statement announcing a two-year transition under a military council. The SPA also called on protestors to continue the sit-in outside the Defence Ministry.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Sudan military coup topples Omar Al Bashir after protests

11/4/19: Multiple sources – Sudan military coup topples Omar Al Bashir after protests

After nearly 30 years in power, Sudan's President Omar Al Bashir has been ousted and arrested, Sudanese defence minister Awad Ibn Ouf said. Ibn Ouf said that the army had decided to oversee a two-year transitional period followed by elections, with a three-month state of emergency being put in place.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: BBC News - What next for Sudan and its 'master manipulator' Omar al-Bashir?

11/4/19: BBC News – What next for Sudan and its ‘master manipulator’ Omar al-Bashir?, by Alex De Waal

 In an analysis of potential consequences from Sudan’s ongoing crisis, Alex De Waal, the director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, highlights fears of the regime and its opponents.  

 De Waal argues that the regime is keen to avoid a massacre, which would lead to a “deafening” clamour for accountability from the international community, thereby increasing pressure on Al Bashir given his outstanding ICC arrest warrant.

 De Waal raises the possibility of a civil war developing, citing Sudan’s divided security apparatus, whereby different militias have their own separate commands and links to foreign countries. De Waal argues that the fear of recreating the chaos of Yemen, Syria and Libya is leading western powers to cautiously focus on stability.