Junta leader demands return of Sudan to African Union membership

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council, expressed confidence that Sudan would be restored to full membership in the African Union (AU).

He made the remarks on Sunday when he received the delegation of the AU High-Level Panel on the Resolution of the Conflict in Sudan, led by Mohamed Ibn Chambas, in Port Sudan.

"Al-Burhan expressed Sudan's confidence in the African Union and the solutions it could offer, provided that Sudan deals with the organisation as a full member," the statement said.

Al-Burhan further stressed that the basis of the solution lies in the withdrawal of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from the cities and villages they occupied.

For his part, Ibn Chambas urged the need to stop the conflict and achieve stability for Sudan and its people. Further, he said the panel is keen on finding the solutions to the crisis, noting that they would listen to all Sudanese political forces.

On January 17, the AU announced the formation of a High-Level Panel on the Resolution of the Conflict in Sudan. The AU named Ibn Chambas as chairman, and Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe, former Ugandan vice president, and Francisco Madeira, former special representative of the chairperson of the AU Commission to Somalia, as members.

The AU had frozen Sudan's membership after Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency on October 25, 2021, and dissolved the Sovereign Council and the transitional government which was headed by the then Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Sudan has witnessed deadly clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF since April 15, 2023. More than 13,000 people have been killed, according to recent estimates released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.