The purpose of the U.S. Saudi brokered discussions between Sudan’s key stakeholders is to ensure the participation of the pro-democracy forces in the tripartite facilitated process, said the Director of Sudan and South Sudan office at the US State Department on Friday.
National Consensus groups, particularly the Sudan Liberation Movement of Minni Minnawi and the Justice and Equality Movement of Gibril Ibrahim, condemned the bilateral backchannel talks between the military component and the Forces for Freedom and Changes (FFC) mediated by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa and Saudi Ambassador in Sudan.
The supporters of the military coup said that Washington and Riyadh are working together to restore the partnership between civilians and military components.
In statements to al-Hurra on Friday, Brian Hunt dismissed the claim saying the separate meetings between the main stakeholders aimed to create the appropriate conditions to ensure the participation of the pro-democracy forces in the tripartite facilitated mechanism.
“We want to make sure that at the end of this we would have a roadmap that allows for the Forces for Freedom and Change and the allied democratic groups that are working with them to participate fully in the mechanism that UNITAMS, the AU and the IGAD have put together to get inclusive process (…),” to restore a civilian government, he said.
Hunt further to explain why they established this backchannel.
“We believe very firmly that any process the UNITAMS, the AU and IGAS are running needs to include the pro-democracy forces in Sudan. We do not believe that stable arrangements can be achieved without them,” he stressed.
He added that the backchannel talks intend “to make sure that the conditions are appropriate to allow the pro-democracy forces including the FFC to ultimately participate in the tripartite mechanism”.
The diplomat stressed the roadmap they are hammering out would be successful to bring them the FFC groups to join the negotiating table in the process facilitated by the tripartite panel.
Speaking about the Resistance Committees Hunt praised their role to bring back bring back the democratic transition in Sudan.
He further expressed hope they would ultimately join the process facilitated by the UNITAMS, the UU and IGAD to achieve “full civilian transition in Sudan”.
The neighbourhood committees reject taking part in any talks with the coup leaders and their allied former rebels. They demand a power handover to civilians.
Regarding the possible Saudi or UAE support to the putschists, the U.S. diplomat said they are working very closely with the two Gulf countries.
“We share with them to see a stable transition in Sudan. We share with them the aspirations of Sudanese are met and that Sudan becomes a contributor to political stability and economic prosperity in the region,” he said.
Source: Sudan Tribune