SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: BBC - How Sudan's rebel deal offers lifeline for peace

9/9/2020: BBC - How Sudan's rebel deal offers lifeline for peace, by Alex de Waal and Edward Thomas

 Edward Thomas of the Rift Valley Institute and Alex de Waal of the World Peace Foundation argue that Sudan’s state sponsor of terrorism designation poses an obstacle to a Juba peace agreement that “comes with a big price tag.”

 Thomas and de Waal note that the agreement promises development funds for rebuilding “devastated” rural areas and helping displaced people return home, expanded health services and schools and universities, alongside the costly process of integrating rebels into a new national army and emergency funding needed to stabilise the economy and stave off a looming humanitarian crisis.

However, the authors add that “until the US officially recognises that Sudan is not a ‘sponsor of terror’, there is no debt relief and little foreign investment,” leaving Sudan’s lifeline is “in the hands of Saudi Arabia and the UAE which give cash-in-hand to their favourite military powerbrokers such as Gen Burhan and Hemeti.”