Sudan suspends its membership of eastern African trade bloc
Sudan has been mired by fighting between the army led by al Burhan, head of the country’s ruling Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April.
Decision to exit IGAD is a reaction to the trade bloc's failure to respect Sudan’s decision to stop involvement in the country’s internal affairs, Sudan FM says/ Photo: AFP Archive
Sudan's government has announced that it is suspending its membership in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
A statement issued on Saturday by the Foreign Ministry in the capital Khartoum, which is loyal to the army led by General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, said the decision is a reaction to the eight-country eastern African trade bloc's failure to respect Sudan’s decision to stop involvement in the country’s internal affairs.
'Offensive communique'
The Foreign Ministry statement comes a day after the IGAD discussed the conflict in Sudan in the Ugandan capital Kampala where it invited the leader of paramilitary Rapid Support Forces Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
“Sudan boycotted the summit, and the final communique of the meeting included language that Sudan deemed disrespectful to its sovereignty and offensive to the families of victims of atrocities committed by rebel militias,” the Sudanese government said in a statement.
Several ceasefire agreements brokered by Saudi and US mediators have failed to end the violence.
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