A new round of UN-facilitated dialogue aiming to resolve Sudan’s political crisis following a military coup has been postponed, a spokesman said on Saturday.
The United Nations, the African Union and the regional bloc IGAD launched direct negotiations on Wednesday in an effort to break the political stalemate since last October’s military takeover, led by military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Army officials, representatives of several political parties and leading members of ex-armed opposition groups attended the talks.
But the main civilian bloc, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), which was ousted from power in the military coup, and the National Umma Party refused to join.
Members of the resistance committees – informal groups which emerged during the 2018-2019 protests that ousted president Omar al-Bashir and have led calls for recent anti-coup rallies – were also absent.
The next round had been slated for Sunday.
Instead, the UN, AU and IGAD have decided to postpone Sunday’s round of talks following the latest developments”, said Fadi al-Qadi, spokesman for the UN’s Sudan mission (UNITAMS).
“We have not set a date for the resumption of the talks,” he added.
On Thursday, a delegation from the FFC held an “unofficial” meeting with army officials in a bid to break the impasse.
The meeting followed an invitation by US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee and the Saudi ambassador to Khartoum, the FFC said.
But the civilian bloc has still refused to take part in the talks, calling them a “fake political solution” which “legitimizes the coup”.
The political process should start “with ending the coup” and launching a constitutional phase that is built on “full civilian rule”, the FFC said in a statement Friday.