EU ENVOY: SUDAN WAR NEEDS AN AFRICA-LED SOLUTION
▶ Annette Weber says ending civilian suffering with abiding ceasefire is vital
Sudan’s warring sides must consolidate the current ceasefire and allow immediate humanitarian access – with the backing of a united African front, the EU’s special representative for the Horn of Africa, Annette Weber, has told The National.
A week-long truce is aimed at allowing for the delivery of aid and is seen as a starting point to end the conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The ceasefire began on Monday night and appears to have largely held – despite some reports of heavy clashes in the capital Khartoum and other cities.
This latest truce was brokered by the US and Saudi Arabia, after talks in Jeddah. It includes a monitoring mechanism involving the army and the RSF, as well as representatives from Washington and Riyadh.
Ms Weber expressed support for the role of Saudi Arabia and the US, but said there needed to be a wider African role.
“It is clear that we need an African component, we need the African Union to take the lead on this issue,” Ms Weber said in an exclusive interview with
The National during a visit to Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Ms Weber said the EU supports Africa taking a lead in orchestrating a political and humanitarian solution, with a “task force that encompasses the League of Arab States, the EU, the Quad [the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia and the UAE]”.
“If there is a strong negotiator then it would be in our interest to have the African lead and to have someone to bridge the Arab-African composition of Sudan,” she said. The fragile ceasefire comes after five weeks of fighting in the Khartoum area and violence in other parts of the country – including the western region of Darfur.
However, this humanitarian truce is not enough to stop the fighting, Ms Weber said.
“It was the right approach to have a narrow and pointed negotiation for the humanitarian ceasefire but for the bigger track we need to have an African lead and for the Arab states and others to come in and support it.”
She added: “I’m not so optimistic that we will see the end of the war very soon.”
The fighting has pitted the Sudanese army, led by Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, against the RSF, headed by Gen Mohamed Dagalo, in a power struggle.
The former allies orchestrated the October 2021 military takeover that derailed a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 removal of long-time leader Omar Al Bashir.
“We now need to keep an ear to the civilians to understand what is their thinking. We need to come back to an understanding of what we have discussed before the war broke out in April,” Ms Weber said.
“A civilian-led government” will be critical going forward.
Talks had been taking place between political factions to form a new transitional government. The country’s military leaders had negotiated a deal with political parties aimed at restoring a civilian government, shortly before war erupted.
The parties had agreed on a committee for drafting a new constitution that would include nine members of the civilian groups, one from the army and another from the RSF.
Disagreements surfaced between the two sides over the
timeline for integrating the RSF into the military, a move called for in a framework deal for the new transition signed last December.
It delayed the signing of the accord that was originally set to be sealed in early April. Then the fighting broke out in mid-April.
“Part of the framework agreement still holds, we don’t need to re-examine or rewrite the transitional constitution,” Ms Weber said.
She stressed the importance of “a civilian track … it needs to be more inclusive”, rather than a narrow number of civilian actors.
To move a step forward “requires the political will of the two sides”, Ms Weber said.
“It should be possible, we shouldn’t wait for a political engagement, but the immediate of course is the survival of the people,” she said.
“Silencing the guns and survival of the people” must be a top priority for Sudan and the international community, she added.
However, Ms Weber said that Sudan’s process must have a more inclusive composition of civilian and political actors.
“We want to come back to supporting this transition and we want to be clear to the two generals that they are not winning anything with this,” she said.
The EU has voiced its strong opinion in wanting to “support the African Union and to have a strong secretariat” in hopes of ending Sudan’s long-term conflict.
The top priority will be to consult with civilians, said Ms Weber. “The war needs to end, I think that is clear, but it also needs to have the voices to make sure that the two generals understand that the prize of this war is not the leadership of Sudan,” she said.
However, Ms Weber said that, despite the destruction and suffering caused, the generals still believe they can win the war.
“They believe they have enough power and means and resources to make this a military solution,” she said.
Much of the conflict is taking place in urban areas where civilians have become victims.
Some of the RSF fighters have moved into densely populated areas.
The capital had a population of more than six million people, making it likely that hundreds if not thousands will either be killed or injured while trying to escape the fighting.
“Khartoum is a city under siege,” Ms Weber said.
Safeguarding the population is the responsibility of the warring sides, she said.
“This needs to be clear to the different sides, this isn’t about their political future and who is winning Sudan, this is about their responsibility for the population of Sudan,” she said.
The warring parties are not considering the danger they are putting civilians in while engaging in violent clashes, she added.
“If you have urban warfare, like in Khartoum where one side is occupying and shielding behind civilians and the other is bombing, it’s not really taking care of the needs of civilians,” she said. The increase in violence has left more than half of the Sudan population – about 25 million people – in need of humanitarian assistance.
“People are out of water, food for a long time, they are out of diesel, out of everything,” Ms Weber said.
“If the fighting continues and the ceasefire breaks then there will be more and more suffering.”
The fighting has destroyed essential infrastructure, with markets and energy supply taking a hit.
Aid agencies such as the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross are not able to distribute essential life-saving medicines, food and water, as they wait for security permits to be able to move around.
“There’s too much fighting in Khartoum and the airport is in the middle of town and in the middle of the crossfire,” she said.
“So, no one is using the airport and this is key to supplying aid.”
However, she added, “the war is not just in Khartoum … there is a fragmentation of actors … it feels like everyone is hedging”.
Darfur is one key flashpoint that raises concerns.
Humanitarian workers are considering coming through the port of Sudan and using roads to be able to distribute and reach civilians.
But this “requires humanitarian ceasefire negotiations with everyone who is manning the checkpoints”, Ms Weber said.
To have a successful nationwide truce to enable the delivery of aid to civilians “requires at least the understanding of the two sides, that these are their people”, she said.
On the wider issues facing the Horn of Africa, a key challenge is the drought threatening millions in Ethiopia, Somalia and beyond.
Ms Weber said to tackle climate change, “we have to think very different, very big”.
She sees opportunities in the region, which needs a new way of creating work for pastoralists who can no longer survive on historic means.
“In the Horn of Africa, you have the biggest risk from climate change … and a great opportunity in change,” said Ms Weber.
“You need to think bigger, with so much potential, we need to invest, thinking of food production in the region, for the region and beyond,” she said.
“You have it all in the region, the water, the soil.”
A regional approach would need infrastructure “to protect the farmers to the market to the consumers”, said Ms Weber.
We want to come back to supporting this transition and be clear to the two generals that they are not winning anything ANNETTE WEBER EU Horn of Africa special representative