ADDIS ABABA: The African Union on Wednesday said the announcement of a parallel government in war-torn Sudan risked cleaving the country, already ravaged by nearly two years of unrest.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a brutal conflict with Sudan’s army (SAF) since April 2023 in a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and uprooted more than 12 million people.
The war, which was initially sparked by disagreements over the integration of the RSF into the army, has torn the country apart, with the military now controlling eastern and northern Sudan and the RSF dominating almost all of western Darfur and parts of the south.
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of war crimes.
The RSF and its allies signed a “founding charter” of a parallel government in Nairobi last month.
On Wednesday the AU condemned the move and “warned that such action carries a huge risk of partitioning of the country.”
The signatories to the document, seen by AFP, intend to create a “government of peace and unity” in rebel-controlled areas.
They have also pledged to “build a secular, democratic, decentralized state, based on freedom, equality and justice, without cultural, ethnic, religious or regional bias.”
In early March, the RSF and its allies signed, again in Nairobi, a “Transitional Constitution.”
The AU called on all of its member states, as well as the international community, “not to recognize any government or parallel entity aimed at partitioning and governing part of the territory of the Republic of Sudan or its institutions.”
In a statement, it said the organization “does not recognize the so-called government or parallel entity in the Republic of Sudan.”
On Tuesday, the European Union also reiterated its commitment to the “unity and territorial integrity of Sudan.”
“Plans for parallel ‘government’ by the Rapid Support Forces risk the partition of the country and jeopardize the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people for an inclusive Sudanese-owned process that leads to the restoration of civilian rule,” it said in a statement.
It follows a warning from the UN Security Council last week that expressed “grave concerns” over the signing, adding it could worsen an already dire humanitarian situation.”
The conflict has up-ended the nation, with the UN describing the situation as an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis on the African continent.”
Parts of the country have already descended into famine, with another eight million people on the brink of mass starvation.
Nationwide, nearly 25 million people are suffering dire food insecurity.
African Union warns of huge risk of partition in Sudan
https://arab.news/2awep
African Union warns of huge risk of partition in Sudan
- The RSF and its allies signed a “founding charter” of a parallel government in Nairobi last month
- On Wednesday the AU condemned the move and “warned that such action carries a huge risk of partitioning of the country“
Palestinians attempt to use Gaza’s Rafah Border crossing amidst delays
- The Rafah Crossing opened to a few Palestinians in each direction last week, after Israel retrieved the body of the last hostage held in Gaza and several American officials visited Israel to press for the opening
CAIRO: Palestinians on both sides of the crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which opened last week for the first time since 2024, were making their way to the border on Sunday in hopes of crossing, one of the main requirements for the US-backed ceasefire. The opening comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Washington this week, though the major subject of discussion will be Iran, his office said.
The Rafah Crossing opened to a few Palestinians in each direction last week, after Israel retrieved the body of the last hostage held in Gaza and several American officials visited Israel to press for the opening. Over the first four days of the crossing’s opening, just 36 Palestinians requiring medical care were allowed to leave for Egypt, plus 62 companions, according to United Nations data.
Palestinian officials say nearly 20,000 people in Gaza are seeking to leave for medical care that they say is not available in the war-shattered territory. The few who have succeeded in crossing described delays and allegations of mistreatment by Israeli forces and other groups involved in the crossing, including and an Israeli-backed Palestinian armed group, Abu Shabab.
A group of Palestinian patients and wounded gathered Sunday morning in the courtyard of a Red Crescent hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, before making their way to the Rafah crossing with Egypt for treatment abroad, family members told The Associated Press.
Amjad Abu Jedian, who was injured in the war, was scheduled to leave Gaza for medical treatment on the first day of the crossing’s reopening, but only five patients were allowed to travel that day, his mother, Raja Abu Jedian, said. Abu Jedian was shot by an Israeli sniper while he was building traditional bathrooms in the central Bureij refugee camp in July 2024, she said.
On Saturday, his family received a call from the World Health Organization notifying them that he is included in the group that will travel on Sunday, she said.
“We want them to take care of the patients (during their evacuation),” she said. “We want the Israeli military not to burden them.”
The Israeli defense branch that oversees the operation of the crossing did not immediately confirm the opening.
A group of Palestinians also arrived Sunday morning at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing border to return to the Gaza Strip, Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News satellite television reported.
Palestinians who returned to Gaza in the first few days of the crossing’s operation described hours of delays and invasive searches by Israeli authorities and an Israeli-backed Palestinian armed group, Abu Shabab. A European Union mission and Palestinian officials run the border crossing, and Israel has its screening facility some distance away.
The crossing was reopened on Feb. 2 as part of a fragile ceasefire deal that stopped the war between Israel and Hamas. Amid confusion around the reopening, the Rafah crossing was closed Friday and Saturday.
The Rafah crossing, an essential lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza, was the only crossing not controlled by Israel prior to the war. Israel seized the Palestinian side of Rafah in May 2024, though traffic through the crossing was heavily restricted even before that.
Restrictions negotiated by Israeli, Egyptian, Palestinian and international officials meant that only 50 people would be allowed to return to Gaza each day and 50 medical patients — along with two companions for each — would be allowed to leave, but far fewer people than expected have crossed in both directions.
