Will the American envoy solve the Sudanese crisis from outside the country?

US envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello meets with Sudanese youth in Cairo (social networking sites)

After the war in Sudan approached the completion of its first year, the US administration was active, through its new envoy Tom Perriello, who visited 7 African and Arab capitals, to contain the Sudanese crisis.

Washington expects that the country will reach the point of no return if the war continues for another 3 months, and is therefore pushing for the return of the two sides of the fighting to the negotiating table in the coming weeks.

Observers expect that the administration of US President Joe Biden will resort to using the "carrot and stick" policy with the leadership of the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.

On February 26, the US State Department announced the appointment of Tom Perriello as a special envoy to Sudan, as part of Washington’s efforts to end the war in the country.

Tom Perriello is a former Democratic congressman who lost the governor's race in 2017 (Getty)

Criticisms

Perriello is a former member of Congress from the Democratic Party, who lost the state governor's race in 2017, and has little experience in Sudan, although he worked as a special envoy to the Great Lakes region in Africa.

The move came months after Democratic and Republican lawmakers called for the appointment of a top problem-solving expert to help prevent one of Africa's largest countries from sliding into a "civil war" and one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

It also coincided with the decision of the US Ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, to step down from his position as the unofficial envoy.

Members of Congress downplayed the importance of Perriello's appointment, and criticized the Biden administration for not paying attention to the file and not appointing a permanent presidential envoy 11 months after the crisis.

The new envoy launched his mission with a tour that began on March 11 and will conclude tomorrow, Saturday, taking him to Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and most recently the UAE.

He also met in Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Kampala and Cairo with a range of leaders of various Sudanese political forces, representatives of civil society, resistance and emergency committees, and Sudanese feminist and youth groups.

Tom Perriello said yesterday, Thursday, “Achieving a sustainable peace depends not only on the dialogue between the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), but also on the efforts of all regional stakeholders to become proactive partners in the peace process.” "Especially those who fueled the conflict instead of pushing for Sudan's stability."

Political reproach

The American envoy indicated, during a press conference via digital media, that he discussed in some African and Arab capitals with a group of Sudanese civilians and activists ways to end the war and plan for a democratic transition in the country, and stated that the Sudanese want a quick end to the war.

Regarding the peace talks, Perriello said, “We call for comprehensive peace talks that include key African partners, regional leaders, multilateral actors such as IGAD and the African Union, and stakeholders from the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”

He added, "This inclusion is crucial in promoting real dialogue and commitment to ending the conflict, and accelerating the peace process," and he expected the resumption of negotiations between the two parties to the conflict through the Jeddah platform after Ramadan.

Reports revealed that the American envoy blamed the Sudanese political forces and believed that they did not rise to the level of the crisis and did not represent all of the Sudanese people. He inquired about the mechanism through which the people’s opinion could be polled.

The same reports stated that Perriello believes that external military support for the parties to the conflict is one of the most prominent factors in prolonging the war, but Washington’s movements convinced countries close to Sudan that the flames of war could spread to them, and other countries also realized that they had misjudged because their interests could only be achieved with Sudan’s stability. .

The envoy held consultations in Cairo with the head of the Sudanese Congress Party, Omar Al-Digir, and the vice-president of the National Umma Party, Maryam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, leaders of the Forces of Freedom and Change Alliance - Central Council, in addition to the leftist politician Al-Shafie Khidr.

Periello also held similar meetings with leaders of the Forces for Freedom and Change-Democratic Bloc, Nour al-Daim Taha and Muhammad Zakaria, along with a limited group of Sudanese media professionals.

Al Jazeera Net contacted leaders of the banned National Congress Party (formerly ruling) to ask them about the rumors about the American envoy meeting with 3 of the party’s leaders in Cairo, but the leaders did not confirm or deny that this meeting took place.

American urgency

One of the political leaders - who requested to remain anonymous - revealed that the American envoy informed them that he was proposing a Sudanese dialogue to develop a consensus between the parties on a minimum program regarding ending the war and a comprehensive political process, and that he did not carry a “magic wand” and would push to bring the two sides of the fighting back to the negotiating table.

He explained to Al Jazeera Net that Perriello talked about a time period to resolve the crisis that does not exceed 4 months, and that he fears that prolonging the war will lead to things getting out of control and the country entering into a humanitarian catastrophe that will double the suffering of the Sudanese people.

Political analyst and editor-in-chief of Al-Tayyar newspaper, Othman Mirghani, who met the envoy, says that the American administration is in a hurry to end the Sudanese crisis because the remaining time, before the country reaches the abyss, does not exceed 3 months.

He told Al Jazeera Net that what came out of the Periello meeting was that the solution must be made by the Sudanese and that the priority is to stop the war, and that the political forces represent themselves and do not represent the Sudanese people.

Mirghani believes that Washington is still considering adopting a new road map in dealing with the Sudanese crisis, and is currently adopting an approach of openness to all political forces, including Islamists, to provide a comprehensive vision on which it can be built.

For his part, political analyst Muhammad Latif believes that the American envoy has political experience that qualifies him to play a positive role within the framework of his mission, and he considered his African and Arab tour a step in the right direction, considering that the capitals he visited were a major influential link in resolving the Sudanese crisis.

According to Latif's interview with Al Jazeera Net, Periello's failure to visit Sudan indicates that he is trying to besiege the crisis from the outside and not from its epicenter, and if he is able to unify the positions and visions of the countries of the region and those surrounding Sudan, he will have gone a significant way towards accelerating the end of the war.

The same speaker adds that reality goes beyond the Jeddah platform in its new style, where the army and the Rapid Support negotiate through technical elements that do not carry a mandate, and that if the new envoy wants to achieve a breakthrough towards resolving the crisis, he must bring together Burhan and Hemedti, and use the “carrot and stick” to get them to take action. Decisions that lead to ending the war in Sudan.

Source: Al Jazeera