AFRICA
2 min read
African Union warns of huge risk of Sudan partition
The two sides, the regular Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, have been fighting over the country for nearly two years.
African Union warns of huge risk of Sudan partition
A photograph shot in January 2024, shows a woman and baby at the Zamzam displacement camp, close to El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan. [MSF/Mohamed Zakaria/Handout via REUTERS]
2 hours ago

The African Union said on Wednesday that the announcement of a parallel government in war-torn Sudan risked cleaving the country, already ravaged by nearly two years of unrest.

The conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the regular Sudanese army has left tens of thousands dead and displaced more than 12 million people, in what the UN has described as an "unprecedented humanitarian crisis on the African continent".

The war, which was initially sparked by disagreements over the integration of the RSF into the army, has torn the country apart, with the army now controlling eastern and northern Sudan and the RSF dominating almost all of western Darfur and parts of the south.

Last month, the RSF and its allies signed a "founding charter" of a parallel government in Nairobi.

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The AU said in a statement that it 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.

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 recognise any government or parallel entity aimed at partitioning and governing part of the territory of the Republic of Sudan or its institutions".

The AU added it "does not recognise the so-called government or parallel entity in the Republic of Sudan".

On Tuesday, the European Union said in a statement that the parallel government threatens Sudanese democratic aspirations, echoing a statement by the UN Security Council last week.

Violence in Sudan's Darfur forces MSF to halt its aid operations

Doctors Without Borders says the "impossibility" of sending equipment and staff left them with no choice.

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SOURCE:AFP
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