The office of the Official Spokesman and Media Department at the Sudanese foreign ministry on Sunday said that the final communique of the 41st Extraordinary Assembly of IGAD Heads of State and Government held in Djibouti over the weekend was erroneous and contained falsehoods.

The communique dated 9 December 2023 stated the belligerents committed to a ceasefire, meeting one-on-one, and embracing political dialogue.  

However, the foreign ministry rubbished the claims and clarified that Al-Burhan only said he would meet Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Commander   Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo if the latter’s forces vacated Khartoum.

“Correction of what was reported regarding the approval of the President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council to meet with the leader of the rebellion. For holding such a meeting, Mr. President (Al-Burhan) stipulated the approval of a permanent ceasefire, and the departure of the rebel forces from the capital and their assembly in areas outside it,” the Sudanese foreign ministry stated. “Delete the paragraph that refers to a phone call between the heads of IGAD and the rebel leader, as this call took place between the Kenyan president and the rebel leader after the end of the summit, and therefore is not considered part of the work of the summit, until it is referred to in the final statement.”

It also said that concerning what was issued by the IGAD Secretariat on behalf of the Heads of State and Government at the Emergency Summit No. 41 on December 10, 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to clarify that the IGAD Heads of State and Government Summit was held yesterday, Saturday, December 9, 2023, in Djibouti, for one day, where there was an open session, followed by a closed consultation session for the Presidents only.

“Due to time constraints, the IGAD Secretariat was unable to prepare a draft of the final statement until late yesterday evening, and the IGAD presidency announced that the draft would be sent the same night to member states for approval, so that the final statement would be issued today (Sunday) 10 December 2023, but the draft statement was not sent until morning,” the clarification part. “Immediately after receiving the draft statement, Sudan informed the IGAD Secretariat that it had fundamental observations and reservations on the draft, as the Sudanese delegation noted that there were paragraphs that were inserted into the draft without justification.”

“In addition to the flawed wording of what was agreed upon on some important issues, such that it did not reflect the reality of what had been reached,” it added.

According to the foreign ministry, in clear violation of what the statute requires of issuing decisions by consensus among members, the secretariat quickly issued a final statement without including the observations and reservations made by the Sudanese delegation.

“Therefore, Sudan does not consider this statement (communique) to represent what came out of the summit, and that it is meaningless until the IGAD presidency and its secretariat correct this,” it said. “The comments made by the Sudanese delegation on the draft final statement were summarized as follows: a. Delete the reference to the participation of the Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates in the summit, as that did not happen. B. Deleting the reference to the heads of IGAD holding consultations with the delegation of the dissolved Rapid Support militia, and this contradicts the truth, as the President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, who is one of the heads of IGAD, did not participate or hear about the consultations with the representatives of the rebellion, knowing that the delegation of the rebellion arrived on the plane of the Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UAE.”

“Amending the paragraph condemning foreign interference so that it does not include equating the armed forces with the insurgency,” it added.

The Sudanese foreign ministry also demanded the Inclusion of a reference to the Arab Republic of Egypt presenting the “Sudan Neighboring Countries Initiative” in the paragraph that talks about initiatives to resolve the crisis in Sudan.

“Stipulating the necessity of consulting with the Government of Sudan and obtaining its approval in any effort to resolve the crisis,” the statement said. “Since none of these observations were taken into account, the statement lacks consistency and is therefore not considered a legal document of IGAD.”