Rhino: Agencies

High-level sources in the African Union have revealed that the Civil Democratic Forces Alliance “Sumood” has asked the African Union to postpone the political dialogue that was scheduled to start on October 6 to a later date, stressing that the current circumstances do not allow for the launch of any political process given the complex field and humanitarian conditions in Sudan.

The sources told Raino that the Sumood coalition believes that the priority for Sudanese people at this stage is an urgent humanitarian ceasefire that would allow international organizations to deliver food and medical aid to millions in need.

They warned that any political dialogue that takes place before a humanitarian truce is achieved will be doomed to failure, which could negatively impact the peace efforts led by the Quartet. They noted that the African Union is already considering postponing the dialogue based on this view.

In the same context, a senior official in the Sumood coalition told Raino that the African Union’s invitation was marred by issues related to timing and the list of invitees, indicating that the Union wants to limit the dialogue to Sumood and the Democratic Bloc on the pretext that the Port Sudan group refuses to sit with TASIS coalition, while it does not object to dialogue with Sumood.

The source explained that any agreement between the two blocs, even if achieved 100%, would not be sufficient to end the war, but would rather increase the complexity of political divisions. He added that Sumoud’s position is that the top priority now must be to stop the fighting and open humanitarian corridors for millions of civilians trapped in conflict areas, where they suffer from severe shortages of food, medicine, and water, as well as the spread of disease and rising numbers of displaced persons.”