The resigned Sudanese Prime Minister, Abdullah Hamdok, protested against the United Nations’ invitation to the army commander, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, to participate in the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly, considering that it sends very dangerous signals that encourage military coups on the African continent.
Hamdok, along with members of the Sovereignty and Council of Ministers who were overthrown by the army in the coup of October 25, 2021, sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Anthony Guterres, in which they said, “This call contradicts the international positions rejecting the coup that stopped the democratic transformation process in Sudan”.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, was signed, in addition to Hamdok, by three members of the Sovereignty Council, namely Muhammad Al-Faki Suleiman, Al-Taher Hajar, and Muhammad Hassan Al-Taayshi. It was also signed by prominent ministers in Hamdok’s government, headed by the Minister of Council Affairs. Minister Khaled Omar Youssef.
Al-Burhan warns at the United Nations against the expansion of Sudan’s war to neighboring countries
Constitutional collapse
Hamdok’s transitional civilian government said in its letter to the United Nations that the military component, headed by Lieutenant General Al-Burhan, led a military coup against the transitional civilian government, which led to a complete constitutional collapse in the country, resulting in the existence of a de facto government, which then collapsed as well with the outbreak of war. On April 15, which was a direct result of the coup against the civilian government carried out by both parties to the current war, namely the army and the Rapid Support Forces.
The letter also referred to the positions of the African Union, the UN Security Council, and the European Union, which expressed their rejection of the military coup, which undermined Hamdok’s civilian government, and stopped the process of democratic transformation in Sudan, by taking resolutions condemning the coup and demanding the return of power to civilians.
Smoke rose over the capital, Khartoum, as a result of clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (AP)
Contradictory positions
The letter promised to invite the army commander to attend the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly as a representative of Sudan. This contradicts declared international positions and contributes to prolonging the war currently taking place in Sudan. It also sends very dangerous and encouraging signals to the military coups that have recently increased on the African continent.
On October 25, the Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Commander of the Sudanese Army, announced the dissolution of the Sovereignty Council and the Council of Ministers, the freezing of some provisions of the constitutional document governing the transitional period, and the arrest of the Prime Minister and a number of members of the Sovereignty Council and the ministers of the executive authority.
In light of these measures taken by the Sudanese army, the African Union suspended Sudan’s membership, due to what it described as an unconstitutional seizure of power, and the United States of America and the World Bank froze aid to Sudan, conditioning its resumption on handing over power to civilian forces.
The tower of the Nile Company, the largest oil company in Sudan, burns amid fierce battles, September 17 (AFP)
Shooting down a MIG plane
On the field, the Rapid Support Forces announced, on Monday, the downing of a MIG military plane belonging to the Sudanese army, at a time when the pace of battles escalated in several areas in the cities of the capital, Khartoum. Residents in neighborhoods adjacent to the army headquarters in central Khartoum reported the outbreak of violent clashes and the exchange of artillery shelling and heavy weapons between the two sides around the important military headquarters of the army. For the tenth day in a row, the Rapid Support Forces attack the army command, with the aim of controlling it.
According to witnesses who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, the army bombed the attacking forces with drones, which led to dense columns of black smoke rising in the targeted area. The drones also launched successive raids on the Rapid Support Camp in the Sports City, south of Khartoum.
The sound of strong artillery shelling was heard on the neighborhoods of Al-Jarif, West, Burri, Imtadat Nasser, and East of the Nile, all in the capital, Khartoum.
The Rapid Support Forces announced, in a statement on the “X” platform (formerly Twitter), that they shot down an army MIG warplane, the second in two days.
The Rapid Support Forces said that the plane “bombed innocent civilians and continued to destroy public facilities and markets.” The remnants and elements of the defunct National Congress regime, led by Burhan, adopted a scorched earth policy by deliberately bombing residential neighborhoods, markets, and vital facilities in the three cities of the capital and some states in Darfur and Kordofan, causing the death and injury of thousands of innocent civilians.
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2023-09-26 04:54:30
