Port Sudan-(SUNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement yesterday in which it enumerated its observation on the draft statement issued by the IGAD Presidents Secretariat on the summit held yesterday, and that it was not taken into account in the draft statement, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not consider the statement a legal document from IGAD, and that Sudan is not concerned with the statement until IGAD and its secretariat correct it. The following is the text of the statement:
With reference to what was issued by the IGAD Secretariat on behalf of the IGAD Heads of State and Government at the 41st Emergency Summit on 10/12/2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to clarify the following:
1- The Summit of Heads of State and Government was held yesterday 09-12-2023 in Djibouti, for one day, where there was an open session, followed by a closed consultation session for the presidents only. The IGAD Secretariat was unable to prepare the draft final statement until late yesterday evening, and the IGAD presidency announced that the draft will be sent on the same night to the member states for approval, so that the final statement will be issued today, Sunday, December 10, 2023, but the draft statement was not sent until this morning.
2- Upon receipt of the draft statement, Sudan informed the IGAD Secretariat that it had substantial observations and reservations on the draft, as the delegation of Sudan noted that there were paragraphs inserted into the draft without justification, in addition to the flawed wording of what was agreed upon on some important issues so that it did not reflect the reality of what was reached. He provided the Secretariat with those observations.
3. In clear contravention of the Statute’s requirement that decisions be adopted by consensus among the members, the Secretariat hastened to issue a final statement without including the observations and reservations made by the delegation of the Sudan. Therefore, the Sudan does not consider this statement to represent the outcome of the summit and that it is not interested in it until the IGAD presidency and secretariat correct this.
4. The observations made by the delegation of Sudan on the draft final communiqué were summarized as follows:
– Delete the reference to the participation of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates in the summit, as this did not happen.
– Delete the reference to the IGAD heads holding consultations with the delegation of the dissolved Rapid Support Militia, which is contrary to the truth, as the President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, one of the IGAD presidents, did not participate or hear of the consultations with the representatives of the rebellion.
– Correction of the statement regarding the agreement of the President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council to meet with the leader of the rebellion.The President of the Sovereign Council stipulated that such a meeting be held to establish a permanent ceasefire and the departure of rebel forces from the capital and their assembly in areas outside it.
– Delete the paragraph referring to a telephone call between the IGAD heads and the rebel leader, as this call, if made between the Kenyan president and the rebel leader, is not considered an act of the summit, until it is referred to in the final communiqué.
Amend the paragraph condemning foreign interference so that it does not include equality between armed forces and rebellion.
– Stipulate the need to consult with the Government of Sudan and obtain its consent in any effort to resolve the crisis.
5- Since none of these observations have been taken into account, the draft statement lacks consensus and is therefore not considered a legal document from the IGAD
