Aboul Gheit in Sudan for talks with military council, opposition

Fatma Lotfi
3 Min Read

The Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, arrived on Sunday in Sudan to meet the head of the Sudanese Transitional Military Council (TMC), Abdul Fattah Burhan, and opposition leaders, according to the Arab League spokesperson.

 

The visit is the first visit for Aboul Gheit to the north African country since the autocrat Omar Al-Bashir was ousted in April.

 

Al-Bashir will appear in court next week over charges of corruption and the killing of protesters during Sudan’s mass protests against his regime over the last months.

 

The Sudanese general prosecutor announced on Saturday that it charged the toppled president with “illegal wealth, possession of foreign funds, and the acquisition of lands.” He added that 41 lawsuits were filed against other former regime officials.

 

In April, Burhan revealed that more than $113m of different currencies were seized at Al-Bashir’s house.

 

Earlier, Al-Bashir was charged in May with the killing of protesters during the uprising which erupted against his rule. He was moved to Kobar prison.

 

Al-Bashir, who has been in power since 1989, was removed from power on 11 April following mass protests which began in December last year against the high increase in the cost of living. Then, protesters demanded the toppling of Al-Bashir himself and his regime.

 

Talks between the opposition and ruling military generals have resumed after days of suspension, encouraged by the United States and Ethiopia.

 

Last week, the US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, and Washington’s newly appointed special envoy to Sudan, Donald Booth, met with Burhan and protest leaders of the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF).

 

Meanwhile, Ethiopian special envoy and mediator, Mahmoud Dirir, disclosed earlier that talks were resumed between protest groups and the ruling military council.

 

On Thursday, the ruling military council admitted for the first time that its forces dispersed a protest sit-in which was held outside the military headquarters in Khartoum on 3 June.

 

The violent crackdown killed more than a hundred protesters and wounded 500 according to the opposition’s figures. The Sudanese authorities put the death toll at 61.

 

The DFCF called for an international investigation into the Khartoum dispersal sit in, but the ruling military council refused. The opposition also insisted on its demands to hand over the power to a civilian government, the pulling of militants from streets, and lifting the blockade on the internet.

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A journalist in DNE's politics section with more than six years of experience in print and digital journalism, focusing on local political issues, terrorism and human rights. She also writes features on women issues and culture.