Khartoum - The top US diplomat for
Africa on Wednesday joined an international effort to press
Sudan's military rulers and the opposition toward a deal on a
transition to democracy two months after the overthrow of former
President Omar al-Bashir.
An Ethiopian envoy has said that the military and opposition
groups have agreed to resume talks on the formation of a
transitional council that collapsed after the violent dispersal
of a protest sit-in on June 3.
Tibor Nagy, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for
Africa, met on Wednesday with the main opposition coalition and
held talks with Sudan's acting Deputy Foreign Minister Ilham
Ibrahim.
Before the meetings, the State Department said Nagy was
going to urge the parties to work toward an environment
conducive to the resumption of negotiations. The United States
also on Wednesday named veteran diplomat Donald Booth as its
envoy to Sudan.
After meeting Nagy, the main opposition coalition said that
it would only participate in indirect talks and it would impose
other conditions.
"We have informed the Ethiopian prime minister that we
refuse to have direct negotiations with the transitional
military council," said Madani Abbas Madani, a leader of the
Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces.
"The point of contention between us is clear and our terms
are clear; we are talking now about issues of transition to
civilian rule and the rights of martyrs."
The bloodshed has drawn expressions of concern from world
powers including the United States, which imposed sanctions on
Sudan under Bashir over its alleged support for militant groups
and the civil war in Darfur.
Stability in the nation of 40 million is crucial for a
volatile region struggling with conflict and insurgencies from
the Horn of Africa to Egypt and Libya.
The military council has been bolstered by support from
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which between them
have offered $3 billion in aid.
OPTIMISM
"The current detente in Sudan calls for optimism and we call
for the establishment of an agreement that will drive the
transitional phase through a real and stable partnership," UAE
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on
Twitter.
He also praised the role of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy
Ahmed, who flew to Khartoum last week on a mediation mission and
is expected to return this week.
The June 3 crackdown led to at least 118 deaths, according
to opposition-linked medics. The government has confirmed 61
deaths, including three security personnel.
Sudan's Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador,
Irfan Siddiq , on Wednesday to protest his remarks, SUNA
reported. As authorities tried to disperse the main protest site
last week, he tweeted: “No excuse for any such attack. This.
Must. Stop. Now."
Talks between the military and the opposition were already
deadlocked before the crackdown as the two sides struggled to
agree on the make-up of a sovereign council that will oversee
the transition.
In Khartoum, employees returned to work on Wednesday and
store owners opened their shops, after the alliance of
protesters and opposition groups suspended a three-day campaign
of strikes and civil disobedience.
Many people lined up outside ATMs and banks that had closed
first for the Eid holiday at the start of June and then because
of the strike.
Sudan is still suffering an internet outage. Some side
streets that had been closed by protesters were still partially
blocked by remnants of barricades. Rubbish bins not emptied for
days were overflowing.