Ahmed Fadl-Khartoum
Protests in the eastern Sudanese city of Kassala on Thursday renewed Sudanese warnings of Emirati and Eritrean ambitions in that region.
Those fears reinforced the protesters' demand for the province's share of the new authority or the pursuit of self-determination, the first precedent of its kind in the region, following repeated warnings that the UAE would seek to replicate the experience of the Yemeni Transitional Council in Sudan.
Former Sudanese governor and parliamentarian Osman Faqrai said he had information that members of an armed movement on the Sudanese border with Eritrea, led by Mohamed Omar Taher, had traveled to the UAE with UAE travel documents, adding that if confirmed, it would be a serious issue caused by loopholes. Related to the issues of the East. "
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Faqrai pointed out that "the ambitions of the UAE in the region appeared to try to control the port of Port Sudan on the Red Sea through Dubai ports, but a wide rejection in the Sudanese Ports Authority culminated in the decision to cancel the agreement with a Philippine company likely to be linked to the UAE." .
Regarding Eritrea's position, he said, "The ambitions in eastern Sudan also include Eritrea, arguing that President Isaias Afewerki was late in attending the signing ceremony for the transitional documents last August. He preferred to visit Khartoum alone this month."
Regarding a list of 26 officers of the regular forces who formed the Transitional Council for Eastern Sudan, General Fakrai ruled out the UAE's ability to form such a council similar to the Yemeni Transitional Council, but advised the center to contain the margin and decentralize the money and services.
He said the growing complaints of marginalization "serious phenomenon", which calls for the action of the Council of Sovereignty and the Federal Minister of Government and the speedy assignment of civilian governors of the states.
External hand
For his part, Suleiman Ali Betai, Sheikh Khalawi Hamashkorib, admitted to Al Jazeera Net that there were fears of foreign interference in eastern Sudan, saying "anything neglected could be taken over by anyone. We missed Halayeb so far due to negligence."
He called the development demands legitimate and recommended the Center - military and civilians - to conduct wide consultations beyond their fault in their own power.
But the leader of the Beja-Entity for Freedom and Change, Abdullah Musa, says he cannot confirm or deny the existence of an external dimension in what is happening in the east, and points out that there is hot air in the breasts and everyone who crosses according to his understanding.
Moussa blamed the former regime for the marginalization of eastern Sudan, saying that the government of Hamdok inherited this situation, and warned that a serious demand such as self-determination replaced by a constitutional conference to be attended by the Beja-entity freedom and change.
According to Moussa, the Constitutional Conference will be held soon in Port Sudan to answer the question: "What does East Sudan want?" However, the leaders of the East pilgrimage to the UAE may have a different opinion, one of these leaders told Al Jazeera Net from the UAE.
"Afewerki has a map showing Kassala is part of Eritrea," said a former official of the Free Lions organization led by Mabrouk Mubarak Selim, adding that the Bejaoui movement was in an area near the Eritrean town of Tesni. Khartoum had previously protested privately but Asmara assured her that the force was under control. .
The former official in the Free Lions acquits the Rashaida tribe, which has its roots in the Arabian Gulf from being involved in the latest movement, after circulating a picture of their leader Mabrouk Mubarak Selim with Libyan leader Ahmed Qaddaf al-Dam, saying that the picture is correct but old.
He affirms that the movement "Bejaoui sincere head of the tribe of Beni Amer, but at the same time shows that the historical leaders of the Beja and Black Free Conference has become ineffective, after the withdrawal of the Vice-President of the Council of Sovereignty General Mohammed Hamdan Humaidi rug from under her feet and became the first man in the Sudan ".
It is noteworthy that the Eastern Sudan region includes three states, Gedaref, Kassala and the Red Sea.It covers an area of 330,860 square kilometers, or 21% of the area of Sudan, and is inhabited by about six million people (13% of the population of the country). the Red.