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Sudan’s Foreign Ministry is loyal to army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan
Sudan is suspending its membership of northeast Africa’s Igad bloc over a bid to mediate the country’s brutal conflict.
Igad is trying to end the nine-month war between the Sudanese army and the rival paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
On Thursday, the Sudanese government criticized Igad for inviting the head of the RSF to a summit.
Khartoum now says a statement released by Igad was insulting to Sudan.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) was established in 1996 and consists of eight states – Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea Sudan and Somalia.
Its current vision is to transform North-East Africa into an upper-middle-income economy and a “continental beacon of regional peace, stability and security by 2050”.
Igad was heavily involved in the 2005 peace process that ended a separate 22-year war in Sudan, and the bloc also oversaw the installation of a transitional government in 2004 during a civil war in Somalia. Igad’s military forces were also a forerunner of the African Union mission currently dealing with Somalia’s insecurity.
On Thursday, leaders of Igad member countries met in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, for a summit.
Sudan’s military-led government refused to attend after learning that RSF boss General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo had been invited.
The fighting broke out last April after a dispute between General Dagalo and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s army chief.
Since then the army has struggled to control large parts of the country, losing much of the capital Khartoum and the western Darfur region to the RSF.
According to the French news agency AFP, Igad on Thursday reiterated its call for an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” in Sudan.
In a final statement after the summit closed, Igad also said Sudan’s army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF must meet face-to-face within two weeks, AFP reported.
Sudan’s foreign ministry issued a statement on Thursday saying it would end its engagement with Igad.
On Saturday the ministry went further, saying it had suspended its participation in Igad because of the bloc’s final statement, reports said.
According to the United Nations, the war has forced more than seven million people to flee their homes from safer locations inside and outside Sudan.
Hundreds of civilians were airlifted out of Sudan at the start of the war as the fighting reached populated areas.
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a group of analysts, puts the death toll at more than 13,000.
Since late December, General Daglo has toured several African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa, meeting with heads of state.
It is part of a strategy that analysts see as a bid for international legitimacy.