• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
No Result
View All Result
1
Home Africa

Ethiopia PM urges democratic transition in Sudan after deadly crackdown

7 June 2019, 10:11 PM  |
AFP AFP |  @SABCNews
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (R) leaves after meeting with a delegation of the Alliance of Freedom and Change in the Ethiopian embassy in Khartoum.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (R) leaves after meeting with a delegation of the Alliance of Freedom and Change in the Ethiopian embassy in Khartoum.

Image: AFP

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (R) leaves after meeting with a delegation of the Alliance of Freedom and Change in the Ethiopian embassy in Khartoum.

Ethiopia’s prime minister Friday called for a “quick” democratic transition in Sudan as he met the country’s ruling generals and protest leaders, days after a deadly crackdown killed dozens of demonstrators in the capital.

Abiy Ahmed, who has emerged as a key regional leader, arrived in Khartoum to revive talks between the Sudanese generals and protest leaders after the African Union suspended Sudan on Thursday until the military makes way for a civilian-led transitional authority.

The move by the African bloc was backed by the European Union amid a chorus of condemnation of Sudan’s military rulers over Monday’s deadly crackdown on a weeks-long sit-in outside army headquarters demanding civilian rule.

“The army, the people and political forces have to act with courage and responsibility by taking quick steps towards a democratic and consensual transitional period,” Abiy said in a signed statement issued to reporters after he held separate meetings with the generals and protest leaders.

“The army has to protect the security of the country and its people and political forces have to think about the future of the country,” he said.

Ethiopia and Sudan share a long frontier and experts say instability in one sparks concern in the other.

Protest leaders welcomed Abiy’s mediation but insisted that any fresh talks with the generals could happen only if certain conditions were met.

“The Transitional Military Council has to admit the crime it committed,” Omar al-Digeir, a prominent leader from the protest movement, the Alliance for Freedom and Change, told reporters.

He said all “military elements should also be removed from the streets across the country” and called for an international probe into “the massacre at the sit-in”.

The generals are ready to sit for “negotiations and reach a solution at any time”, foreign ministry official Hassan Ahmed told reporters.

‘State of terror’

Digeir said the military council should also restore access to the internet and allow public and media freedoms.

Since the deadly assault, fearful Khartoum residents have remained largely indoors, leaving the streets virtually deserted at a time when Muslims are normally out celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Paramilitaries of the feared Rapid Support Forces, who have their origins in the notorious Janjaweed militia unleashed in the conflict in the western region of Darfur in 2003 and 2004, have remained stationed in a number of the capital’s main squares.

Others have been seen out on patrol in their trademark pickup trucks mounted with heavy machine guns or rocket launchers.

“We’re living in a state of terror because of sporadic gunfire,” a resident of south Khartoum told AFP.

He said he was “afraid for (his) children to go out in the street,” as the paramilitaries patrolled parts of the capital.

In north Khartoum, riot police fired tear gas on Thursday evening after protesters put up makeshift roadblocks made from rocks, bricks and tree trunks.

RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is deputy head of the ruling military council, has warned he will not “allow chaos” and has vowed to tear down all barricades.

The protesters and the military authorities have given sharply divergent death tolls for the crackdown.

Doctors close to the demonstrators say 113 people were killed in Khartoum, including 40 whose bodies were pulled out of the Nile.

The health ministry says 61 people died nationwide, 52 of them by “live ammunition” in Khartoum.

The World Health Organization says 784 people were wounded according to a survey of hospitals, adding that the actual number could be higher.

Pressure on generals

The crackdown was launched after talks broke down between protest leaders and the generals on a new transitional ruling body to replace the military council that took power after the ouster of president Omar al-Bashir on April 11.

Despite several initial breakthroughs, the talks hit a deadlock over the demonstrators’ demand — backed by Western and most African governments — for it to have a civilian majority and a civilian leader.

The African Union, which has its headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, said it was suspending Sudan, “until the effective establishment of a civilian-led Transitional Authority, as the only way to allow the Sudan to exit from the current crisis”.

The European Union said it joined the AU in calling for “an immediate end to violence and a credible enquiry into the criminal events of the last days”.

The generals have so far been shielded from condemnation at the United Nations by China, which has made significant investments in Sudan.

Beijing, backed by Moscow, blocked a bid at the UN Security Council on Tuesday to condemn the killing of civilians in Sudan and issue a pressing call from world powers for an immediate halt to the violence, diplomats said.

“Sudan is extremely strategic for China,” said Marc Lavergne of France’s National Centre for Scientific Research.

“It has huge potential resources which are not being exploited.”

Share article
Previous Post

Facebook to cut off Huawei to comply with US sanctions

Next Post

SABC Chief Audit Executive survives assassination attempt

Related Posts

Smoke rises above buildings after an aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North

UN warns more than one million may flee Sudan conflict

29 May 2023, 5:31 PM
FILE PHOTO: Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigeria's newly declared winner of 2023 presidential election, Bola Tinubu pose for photograph

Nigeria’s Tinubu sworn in as president, under pressure over economy and security

29 May 2023, 12:30 PM
FILE PHOTO: A man walks while smoke rises above buildings after aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah//File Photo

Heavy clashes in Sudan’s capital as truce set to expire

29 May 2023, 12:24 PM
FILE PHOTO: Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni speaks during a Reuters interview

Uganda approves harsh anti-LGBTQ law, risks global backlash

29 May 2023, 11:39 AM
President 
Cyril Ramaphosa
 arriving in the Federal Republic of Nigeria through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja

Ramaphosa in Nigeria to attend Tinubu’s inauguration

29 May 2023, 8:00 AM
Gerco van Deventer held hostage by JIM in the north of Mali.

Gift of the Givers releases Gerco van Deventer’s “proof of life” video

29 May 2023, 6:39 AM
Next Post
The attack occurred following  Zikode leaving work on Friday evening. 

SABC Chief Audit Executive survives assassination attempt

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • DENOSA defends nurses for placing newborns in boxes
  • Limpopo teacher writes a book which simplifies Maths
  • North West Health probes why newborn babies were placed in boxes
  • Majodina refutes allegations of soliciting a bribe from Mkhwebane
  • Pending court cases interfering with my duties: AmaZulu King
  • Dr Nandipha’s looks during court appearances under the spotlight
  • Experts raise caution over Prime energy drink craze
  • 108-carat ‘fancy intense pink’ diamond discovered in Lesotho
  • Dr Nandipha Magudumana, co-accused in Thabo Bester’s escape to apply for bail
  • Reserve Bank expected to increase repo rate on Thursday
  • Limpopo teacher writes a book which simplifies Maths
  • Highly unlikely Majodina attempted to solicit funds from Mkhwebane: FF+
  • Bester’s lawyer to challenge procedures of his re-arrest in Tanzania
  • VIDEO: Accused 1 to 4 in Thabo Bester escape denied bail
  • Alleged rhino poaching kingpin to appear in court

LATEST

Natassja Jansen after being granted bail
  • Thabo Bester saga
  • South Africa

Natassja Jansen’s legal counsel welcomes her bail conditions


Smoke rises above buildings after an aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North
  • Africa

UN warns more than one million may flee Sudan conflict


File: Collins Chabane Municipality mayor Moses Maluleke speaking at an event
  • South Africa

Current Collins Chabane Mayor wants predecessor’s murder case quickly concluded


Mauricio Pochettino applauds fans after a match.
  • Sport

Pochettino handed task of reviving Chelsea’s fortunes


Cows graze as steam rises from the cooling towers of Matla Power Station, a coal-fired power plant operated by Eskom in Mpumalanga province, South Africa, May 20,2018
  • Eskom rolling blackouts
  • Business

Scientist finds solution to extending life of power plants’ rotors


Türkiye President Tayyip Erdogan
  • World

Türkiye’s Erdogan triumphs in election test, extending 20-year rule


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2023

Previous Facebook to cut off Huawei to comply with US sanctions
Next SABC Chief Audit Executive survives assassination attempt