12/5/2022: Africa Confidential – Sudan: Shuttle diplomacy on a broken loom

Africa Confidential report on the African Union (AU) and UN’s joint-initiative for Sudan’s post-coup political crisis.

After UN envoy to Sudan Volker Perthes publish a report after meeting Sudanese stakeholders, the second step in his mediation was stopped by AU Commission chair Moussa Faki, who appealed to UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, to link the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the AU to the process, with Faki’s chief of staff Mohamed el-Hacen Labatt publically criticising the UN and saying the AU should take the lead in the political mission.

Africa Confidential add that some in Sudan see the rivalry between the AU and the UN as a consequence of Guterres being too weak, or unwilling, to contradict the AU, especially when he has other crises on his plate.