President of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, sent a message to IGAD informing them of the freezing decision (Reuters)

The government of Sudan decided - today, Saturday - to freeze the country’s membership in the Intergovernmental Authority for Development in East Africa (IGAD), clarifying that Khartoum is not obligated and is not concerned with everything issued by the organization regarding Sudanese affairs.

A statement by the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the army commander and head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, sent a letter to the President of Djibouti and the head of IGAD, Ismail Omar Guelleh, “informing him of the Sudanese government’s decision to freeze its membership in the organization” as a result of “the organization ignoring Sudan’s decision, which was officially conveyed to it to suspend “His involvement and freezing of his dealings with it on any issues concerning him,” which did not happen at the organization’s extraordinary summit held in Uganda last Thursday.

Khartoum also made clear that it is not obligated and is not concerned with everything issued by the organization regarding Sudanese affairs.

The former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), participated in the IGAD summit, while the Sudanese war has been going on for more than 9 months between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.

Dagalo wrote - on Thursday - through his official account on the (X) platform, "Today I was pleased to participate in the 42nd extraordinary summit of heads of state and government of the IGAD organization... During the meeting, I confirmed our sincere desire to achieve security and stability in our country to alleviate the human suffering of our people."

Calls to stop the fighting

A statement by Hamdok reported his participation in the summit to present “the Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces’ assessment of the roots of the Sudanese crisis and its vision to stop the devastating war as a top priority and address the effects of the humanitarian catastrophe.”

At Thursday's summit, IGAD stated in a final statement that it reiterated its call on both parties to the conflict in Sudan to "an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as well as a cessation of hostilities to end this war."

On Tuesday, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a “freeze in dealings” with the organization against the backdrop of a “violation of Sudan’s sovereignty” after it invited Hamdan Dagalo to attend its summit in Uganda.

The African Commission, in parallel with the efforts of the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, sought to mediate several times between the two parties, but to no avail.

Sudan had previously accused IGAD of giving legitimacy to the Dagalo “militia” by inviting it to a meeting attended by the heads of member states and governments. Al-Burhan also accused it of bias and seeking to interfere in an “internal matter.”

Source: Al Jazeera + French