Sudan talks to resume soon as opposition halts strikes, says mediator

Protest and military leaders in Sudan have agreed to resume talks soon, an Ethiopian mediator says.

Separately, an opposition alliance agreed to suspend its campaign of civil disobedience and widespread strikes.

The army – which has been in control since long-time President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April – has agreed to release political prisoners, special envoy Mahmoud Dirir told reporters.

Talks broke down after dozens of protesters were killed in a crackdown on a sit-in on 3 June. Since then much of the country has been shut down after the opposition called for an open-ended strike.

Doctors say 118 people have died in the recent outbreak of violence, while officials say there were fewer fatalities – putting the number at 61.

Soldiers have patrolled the streets of Sudanese towns since then, while most businesses have remained closed.

What happens now?

On Tuesday, the Ethiopian mediator between the two sides said that talks on restoring a civilian administration would begin soon.

The army has agreed to release political prisoners as a confidence-building measure, Mahmoud Dirir said.

The opposition Alliance for Freedom and Change issued a statement urging people to return to work on Wednesday.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which called the strikes in the first place, backed the temporary suspension and urged people to return to work for the time being.

Some shops and services had already started to re-open, mostly among small businesses and daily wage earners who could not afford to remain closed.

What kind of deal could be struck?

Military leaders have yet to formally confirm the return to talks.

But a member of the Transitional Military Council (TMC), Salah Abdelkhalek, told BBC Arabic that it might agree to “equal” power sharing with the opposition.

However, he said the TMC was adamant that the head of the new council should be from the military.

He also said that some military officers had been responsible for the 3 June crackdown, and said hundreds of soldiers, including officers, had been arrested – and endorsed the idea of an international inquiry into the violence.

But he added the TMC was willing to negotiate without preconditions.

Earlier on Tuesday, the top US diplomat for Africa announced a trip to Sudan to urge both sides to resume talks.

News of the return to talks followed the intervention of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who met both sides to try and break the impasse.

There are some reports suggesting that Mr Abiy suggested a 15-member ruling council for the transitional period, made up eight civilians and seven military officials. BBC News </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption Some stall vendors returned to work on Tuesday - but most businesses remained closed

Protest and military leaders in Sudan have agreed to resume talks soon, an Ethiopian mediator says.

Separately, an opposition alliance agreed to suspend its campaign of civil disobedience and widespread strikes.

The army - which has been in control since long-time President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April - has agreed to release political prisoners, special envoy Mahmoud Dirir told reporters.

Pro-democracy protesters are demanding a return to civilian government.

Talks broke down after dozens of protesters were killed in a crackdown on a sit-in on 3 June. Since then much of the country has been shut down after the opposition called for an open-ended strike.

Doctors say 118 people have died in the recent outbreak of violence, while officials say there were fewer fatalities – putting the number at 61.

Soldiers have patrolled the streets of Sudanese towns since then, while most businesses have remained closed.

What happens now?

On Tuesday, the Ethiopian mediator between the two sides said that talks on restoring a civilian administration would begin soon.

The army has agreed to release political prisoners as a confidence-building measure, Mahmoud Dirir said.

The opposition Alliance for Freedom and Change issued a statement urging people to return to work on Wednesday.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which called the strikes in the first place, backed the temporary suspension and urged people to return to work for the time being.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Driving around deserted Khartoum

Some shops and services had already started to re-open, mostly among small businesses and daily wage earners who could not afford to remain closed.

What kind of deal could be struck?

Military leaders have yet to formally confirm the return to talks.

But a member of the Transitional Military Council (TMC), Salah Abdelkhalek, told BBC Arabic that it might agree to "equal" power sharing with the opposition.

However, he said the TMC was adamant that the head of the new council should be from the military.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption The strikes had shuttered many businesses

He also said that some military officers had been responsible for the 3 June crackdown, and said hundreds of soldiers, including officers, had been arrested – and endorsed the idea of an international inquiry into the violence.

But he added the TMC was willing to negotiate without preconditions.

Earlier on Tuesday, the top US diplomat for Africa announced a trip to Sudan to urge both sides to resume talks.

News of the return to talks followed the intervention of Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who met both sides to try and break the impasse.

There are some reports suggesting that Mr Abiy proposed a 15-member ruling council for the transitional period, made up of eight civilians and seven military officials.

As ever in this story, scepticism is necessary. The Ethiopian assertion that talks will resume "soon" depends on what is meant by soon.

The opposition Forces for Freedom and Change insist they are not about to return to the negotiating table. For now, any contact between both sides will take place via international mediators.

It is negotiation of a sort – but the opposition insists that before face to face talks begin, six conditions need to be met:

removal of military from streets

international investigation into the killings

release of all detainees

return of internet

freedom of the press

Transitional Military Council to take responsibility for the assault on the protest zone

So far they have only the promise of prisoner releases. But any negotiation - even if it happens soon - will circle back to the same issue: will the military cede power to a civilian government? Nothing about the generals' actions has indicated that this is an imminent possibility.

The fear is that they will use any negotiations to try to divide the opposition while security pressure is maintained on the streets. </s> Sudan’s opposition leaders have agreed to end their campaign of civil disobedience and strikes and resume talks with the country’s military rulers aimed at forming a transitional council.

In turn, the Transitional Military Council also agreed to release political prisoners, Ethiopia’s special envoy Mahmoud Dirir told reporters in Khartoum Tuesday.

“The Freedom and Change alliance agreed to end the civil disobedience(campaign) from today,” said Dirir, who has been mediating since a visit by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week.

“Both sides have also agreed to resume talks soon” on a handover of power to a civilian administration, he said.

The protest leaders said the call for talks is insincere following this week’s deadly crackdown on demonstrators in Khartoum, which witnesses blamed on the militia known as the Rapid Support Forces.

According to the Voice of America news medical doctors allied with the opposition said the death toll from the crackdown had risen to 118. The Sudanese Health Ministry issued a statement last week that said the number is “no more than 46.”

Protest groups and opposition parties have been demanding that the TMC, which took power after the army overthrew longtime president Omar al-Bashir on April 11, handpower to a civilian-led authority.

Talks on the proposed interimgovernment broke down over which side would have ultimate decision-making authority.

Violence erupted in Sudan last December, when anger over rising bread prices and cash shortages evolved into sustained protests against al-Bashir before he was ousted after three decades in power. </s> AFP | Locals set tyres on fire and block a sidestreet leading to their neighbourhood in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to stop military vehicles from driving through the area on June 4, 2019.

Protest leaders have agreed to end their civil disobedience campaign launched after a crackdown on demonstrators and resume talks with Sudan’s ruling generals, an Ethiopian mediator said Tuesday.

“The Alliance for Freedom and Change agreed to end the civil disobedience (campaign) from today,” Mahmoud Drir, who has been mediating since a visit by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week, told reporters.

“Both sides have also agreed to resume talks soon” on a handover of power to a civilian administration, he said.

The protest movement itself said in a statement that it was calling on people “to resume work from Wednesday”.

“The TMC (Transitional Military Council) as a goodwill gesture has agreed to release all political detainees,” Drir added, without giving details.

Protest leaders launched a nationwide civil disobedience campaign from Sunday after a June 3 crackdown on a weeks-long sit-in had left dozens of people dead.

Thousands of protesters had camped for weeks outside the army headquarters in Khartoum demanding that the ruling generals step down and hand power to a civilian administration - the key demand of demonstrators.

The generals seized power after the army ousted longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir on April 11 following months of nationwide protests against his iron-fisted rule of three decades.

Doctors close to the protest movement say at least 118 people have been killed since the June 3 crackdown.

The health ministry acknowledges that 61 people were killed on June 3 across Sudan, including 49 by “live ammunition” in the capital. </s> Leaders of Sudan’s Alliance for Freedom and Change have agreed to end civil disobedience from Tuesday, three days after its launch.

Mahmoud Drir, who has been mediating since a visit by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed confirmed in his statement to the press on Tuesday.

‘‘They agreed to uphold what they have agreed upon before the suspension of the negotiations regarding the structures, powers, responsibilities of the transitional government’‘, he said.

‘‘Talks will resume soon in good faith to iron out outstanding points, including the sovereign council and other relevant matters’‘, he added.

The two warring sides agreed to also resume talks on the handover of power to a civilian authority.

The Alliance for Freedom and Change, in a separate statement also confirmed the end to the civil disobedience, calling on the Sudanese “to return to work on Wednesday”.

The civil disobedience campaign was launched after a crackdown on demonstrators by the military. </s> The Sudanese opposition and the Transitional Military Council have agreed to resume dialogue to resolve the current political crisis, a day after the suspension of civil disobedience in the country, the Ethiopian envoy to Sudan said.

Ethiopian Prime Minister’s special envoy to Sudan, Mahmoud Drir said that talks on the formation of a Transitional Governing Council “will begin soon”, explaining that the Sudanese military council has agreed to release political prisoners “as a confidence building step” after the opposition agreed to suspend protests.

In the early hours of 3 June, the Sudanese security forces stormed a sit-in in central Khartoum, forcibly removing it, according to opposition forces. The Sudanese Central Committee of Doctors reported that the death toll had reached 108.

Since then the military leadership has been accused of using militias to intimidate protesters. Women’s rights campaigner and activist Nahid Jabrallah told the German publication Deutsche Welle that the Rapid Support Forces, part of Sudan’s security services, raped numerous Sudanese women and men as they violently dispersed a pro-democracy sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum last week.

A black out has now been reported in the country with protesters unable to use mobile phones to go online, limiting the information which is now able to flow out of Sudan.

READ: Sudan will not be silenced </s> Sudanese opposition groups declared victory for their “revolution” on Friday as the military junta agreed to a power-sharing deal until the transition to an elected civilian government is complete.

If the deal holds together, it will end a political crisis that began in April with the ouster of dictator Omar al-Bashir. Hundreds have been killed and injured during military crackdowns on pro-democracy demonstrators.

According to an African Union mediator, the power-sharing deal will “establish a sovereign council by rotation between the military and civilians for a period of three years or slightly more.”

The council will include five seats for military officers and six for civilian representatives. The junta must effectively approve one of the civilian members.

The mediator added that both sides agreed to conduct a “detailed, transparent, national, independent investigation into all the regrettable violent incidents that the country faced in recent weeks.”

The deal appears to resolve an impasse created by the military junta’s insistence that it should control executive power in Sudan until the years-long transition to civilian rule is complete. Previous power-sharing bargains have collapsed because the military insisted on holding more seats in the ruling council or installing a military officer as a supreme executive.

The compromise proposal will install a military officer as president of the ruling council for the first 21 months of its existence, to be followed by a civilian president. In exchange, civilian political groups will be able to appoint positions in the executive Cabinet.

“Today our revolution has won and our victory shines,” the Sudanese Professionals’ Association (SPA), the main opposition group, declared on Friday.

“We hope that the formation of transitional institutions marks the beginning of a new era. We hope it is an era where we can shut off the sound of pistols and destroy for good prisons of arbitrary detention,” said another opposition group, the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change (FDFC).

An FDFC leader conceded that the deal is not fully satisfying to the opposition but “it is a step forward to bring peace to our people.”

Military-controlled media outlets broadcast a message of “congratulations to the Sudanese people.”

The deal was struck after a brutal raid on an opposition sit-in camp resulted in numerous deaths and injuries, plus reports of rape and other human rights abuses by the infamous Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group loyal to the junta. Demonstrators turned out in even greater numbers after the raid, a show of determination that apparently convinced the junta to relent on some of its demands. </s> CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th June, 2019) The biggest Sudanese opposition movement Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change declared on Tuesday an end to the civil disobedience campaign after calls for a return to dialogue, the movement's member, Moataz Mohamed Saleh, told the Al Hadath broadcaster on Tuesday.

Last week, the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change announced a permanent disobedience campaign, which paralyzed the country for three days. Currently, Ethiopian special envoy for Sudan Mahmoud Drir is in Sudan, attempting to revive dialogue between the opposition and military authorities.

At the same time a special representative of the Ethiopian prime minister said at a press conference that the Transitional Military Council (TMC) had agreed to release political prisoners in exchange for the opposition's decision to stop the disobedience campaign.

Long-standing popular protests in Sudan culminated in a military coup on April 11, when then-President Omar Bashir was overthrown and detained. TMC took over and pledged to organize a new presidential election within two years. The protesters have meanwhile remained in the streets demanding that the military yield power to a civilian authority. </s> Sudan's ruling military council and an alliance of opposition groups on Wednesday signed the first of two documents as part of a power-sharing deal that activists hope will pave the way for democracy in the east African country.

The two sides inked the "Political Declaration" in Khartoum in front of African Union and Ethiopian mediators following overnight talks to iron out the final elements of the agreement. Sudan's deputy chief of the ruling military council, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, described it as a "historic moment."

Ibrahim al-Amin, a leader of the opposition Forces of Freedom and Change coalition, said: "Today, we completed the political declaration. For the constitutional document we will resume talks on Friday."

"We want a stable homeland, because we have suffered a great deal," the protest leader added.

Sudan has been in a state of flux since former President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April in a military coup brought about after large-scale protests against his regime.

Earlier this month, dozens were killed during opposition rallies against the military council. The protests — dubbed Justice First — were a direct response to the military council using brutal force against civilian protesters in June.

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Sudanese military and opposition leaders agree to resume talks that broke down after a violent crackdown on protesters earlier in June. The military also agrees to release political prisoners, while the opposition agrees to end its campaign of strikes and civil disobedience.