US official in Khartoum to support Sudanese ‘reconciliation’ amid opposition skepticism

US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee arrived on Sunday in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, for a five-day visit to encourage the Sudanese parties to engage seriously in a dialogue process facilitated by the United Nations, the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

A tripartite mechanism comprising the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), the African Union and IGAD was formed to facilitate dialogue between the parties of the Sudanese crisis that followed the military coup on October 25, 2021.

The tripartite mechanism is expected to launch an intra-Sudanese dialogue on Wednesday to restore a civilian-led transition in the country.

According to a statement issued by the US State Department on Sunday, June 5, Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee will meet with a wide range of Sudanese stakeholders and political actors and urge them to seize the opportunity offered by the process facilitated by the tripartite mechanism to restore the transition to democracy and economic stability, and to advance peace. 

The statement affirmed the United States' commitment to supporting the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people. 

The government of US President Joe Biden has chosen to take a gradual approach with the military given that it has the means to hand power over to civilians, which has exposed the administration to pressure from Congress to impose sanctions on military leaders.

The US embassy had invited the Sudanese Resistance Committees to a meeting with Phee. The invitation stated that the meeting will deal with supporting the transitional phase led by the Sudanese to resolve the crisis that occurred after the military coup against the transitional government.

The resistance committees have been going out in protest rallies throughout the country since the army's coup. Through its statements, it has continued to question the intentions of the tripartite mechanism, seeing it as a supporter of the army's monopoly of power and its evasion of accountability for the crimes committed against defenseless civilians.

Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, announced last week the lifting of the state of emergency imposed by the army since last October. The authorities also released some of the detained youth activists.

However, according to a statement issued by emergency lawyers on Sunday, the authorities have arrested activists in both Madani and Khartoum. A young man was also killed last Friday in Khartoum by a live bullet in the chest during protests marking the third anniversary of the massacre of the General Command.

For its part, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) decided not to engage in a comprehensive meeting organized by the tripartite mechanism this week as an expression of its refusal to involve political groups supporting the military component.

This came in the meeting of the Central Council of FFC on Sunday, in which the members of the coalition agreed on their vision of the political process aimed at ending the coup and establishing a new civilian democratic path.

According to observers, this boycott may constitute the first obstacle facing Phee’s mission.