Sudan Army Chief Agrees with US to Speed up Transition Process

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan

Sudan Army Chief Agrees with US to Speed up Transition Process
The United Nations has been attempting to negotiate a resolution to the political crisis that has ensued since the coup..

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Sudan’s military chief agreed with the US on the need to expedite the creation of a new government after ordering the release of four ministers from the now-deposed cabinet, according to Sudan’s state-run news agency.

On Thursday, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s office issued a statement following a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. According to Al-office, Burhan’s the two parties agreed on the importance of forming a government as soon as possible.

“The two parties agreed on the need to maintain the path of the democratic transition, the need to complete the structures of the transitional government and to speed up the formation of the government,” his office said.

The US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken in the call urged al-Burhan to immediately release all political figures detained since the coup and “return to a dialogue that returns Prime Minister Hamdok to office and restores civilian-led governance in Sudan”.

“We are considering all internal and external initiatives to serve the national interest,” al-Burhan’s media adviser Taher Abouhaga said on Thursday. “The government formation is imminent.”

Meanwhile, significant protests are scheduled in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, and other major towns on Friday.

The United Nations has been attempting to negotiate a resolution to the political crisis that has ensued since the coup, in which prominent civilian lawmakers have been jailed and Hamdok has been placed under house arrest.

The UN special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, said negotiations had generated the basis of a prospective settlement on a return to power-sharing, including the reinstatement of the deposed premier.

However, he encouraged a deal in “days, not weeks,” before both sides’ views harden.

The development came as the country’s top generals and former civilian leaders were locked in tense negotiations for a way out of the crisis sparked by the military takeover last week.

On October 25, al-Burhan dissolved the transitional government and detained other government officials and political leaders in a coup.

Hamdok, who was released within two days after his arrest and since kept under guarded house arrest, has been allowed to meet with UN and international diplomats as part of mediation efforts.

Ify Davies