PORT SUDAN: Sudan announced on Sunday its desire to resume its activities in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
This came during a meeting between the Deputy Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council, Malik Agar, and Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh, the current IGAD chairman, in Djibouti’s capital, according to a statement from the Transitional Sovereign Council.
The statement said that “Agar delivered a letter from Sovereign Council Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to the Djiboutian President, concerning bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to develop them.”
Sudan’s Foreign Ministry Undersecretary, Hussein Al-Amin Al-Fadil, said that “the Deputy Chairman of the Sovereign Council and the Djiboutian President discussed developments in the situation and political process in the country, and Sudan’s file in the African Union and IGAD organization,” according to the same statement.
He added that “Agar congratulated the Djiboutian President on his country’s victory in chairing the African Union Commission, represented by Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, who was elected as the commission’s chairman during the last summit.”
Agar expressed Sudan’s confidence that the new leadership would be able to “correct the commission’s path towards fulfilling its role as required in finding effective solutions to African issues.”
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry Undersecretary added that “Agar expressed Sudan’s desire to resume its activities in IGAD after its suspension during the war period.”
On January 20, 2024, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry announced the Khartoum government’s decision to freeze the country’s membership in IGAD.
The ministry said then that the decision was due to “transgressions” by IGAD, including placing the situation in Sudan on the agenda of the 42nd IGAD summit without consulting Khartoum.
IGAD is a sub-regional African intergovernmental organization, established in 1996, headquartered in Djibouti, comprising East African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan, and South Sudan.
The Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces have been at war since April 2023, resulting in over 20,000 deaths and about 15 million displaced persons and refugees, according to the UN and local authorities, while a study by American universities estimated the death toll at around 130,000 people.
(Anadolu Agency)
