KHARTOUM: The Sudanese government has officially suspended its membership in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an east African regional bloc. The decision comes in the wake of rising tensions and a breakdown in relations over the participation of paramilitary chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo in an IGAD summit on the Sudan conflict.
Sudan formally communicated its decision to suspend its membership in IGAD through a letter from army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleho, the current chair of the regional bloc. The move follows Sudan’s earlier announcement of freezing relations with IGAD over its invitation to Daglo, who has been in conflict with Burhan for nine months.
Sudan is grappling with one of the fastest unfolding crises globally, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA. The country is witnessing widespread displacement, with over 7.4 million people displaced and more than half the population requiring humanitarian assistance. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project reports a death toll of more than 13,000.
IGAD Calls for Immediate Ceasefire in Sudan
At its recent summit, IGAD reiterated its call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Sudan, expressing concern over the impact of the “unjust war” on the Sudanese people. The bloc affirmed its readiness to facilitate an all-inclusive peace process and urged face-to-face meetings between the warring factions. The final communique from the summit gave the generals a two-week deadline to meet these conditions.
Sudan’s foreign ministry cited the inclusion of an agenda item without its approval, calling for the generals to meet within two weeks, as the reason for suspending its membership. The ministry accused the summit communique of violating Sudan’s sovereignty and “wounding the sentiments of victims of rebel militia atrocities,” referring to Daglo’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The conflict in Sudan involves accusations of war crimes by both sides, including the shelling of residential areas, torture, arbitrary detention, and ethnically motivated mass killings. The RSF, led by Daglo, has faced allegations of widespread human rights abuses.
