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Al-Burhan seeking to legitimise Sudanese military junta at Riyadh summit
Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visits the Flamingo Marine Base in Port Sudan on August 28, 2023.
What you need to know:
- This week, RSF and SAF representatives failed to agree on a ceasefire but promised to establish direct contacts.
- The summit takes place in the backdrop of the war in Sudan and the on going Israel-Hamas war.
Sudanese junta leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was among the heads of state who arrived in Riyadh on Thursday ahead of the meeting of African leaders with Saudi Arabia, continuing his show of legitimacy to the world.
Lieutenant General al-Burhan arrived in Riyadh for the first time since war broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April.
The Saudi-African summit on Friday gathered dozens of African leaders, including Kenya's William Ruto, whom al-Burhan had accused of siding with RSF's Mohamed Hamdani Daglo 'Hemedti', while the Kenyan leader also pushed for mediation by the regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad).
Ultimately, the Igad quartet, which also included South Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti, failed to achieve a breakthrough in the peace talks.
But Igad is now part of the Jeddah talks, a peace process led by Saudi Arabia, the US and the African Union in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.
This week, RSF and SAF representatives failed to agree on a ceasefire but promised to establish direct contacts.
Burhan's trip, experts say, will help portray him as a leader in Sudan, despite the violence at home.
President Ismail Oguelleh of Djibouti meets with Sudanese leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on the sidelines of the Saudi-Africa Summit in Riyadh on Friday. Mr Guelleh is also the Chair of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
Jihad Mashamoun, a Sudanese political analyst and honorary research fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, said: “Going to Saudi Arabia will solidify his message that he is the legitimate head of Sudan to the international community...It also gives him the opportunity to encourage Saudi Arabia to give him unequivocal support, and the chance to get Ruto to support his legitimacy or at least drop his opposition to him as head of Sudan.”
The generals are troubled by any intervention force, as it encroaches on their own responsibility and ability to protect Sudan's borders.
According to a statement issued by the media department of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, al-Burhan was also due to attend the emergency summit convened by the Council of Arab League States on Saturday, in the wake of the events in Gaza, where Israeli forces bombed the area, targeting Hamas militants, but killing more than 11,000 civilians.
However, sources say the visit is also an opportunity for the President of the Sovereign Council to meet with the leaders of the African continent and to clarify the course of events in Sudan.
The summit takes place in the backdrop of very complex circumstances in the region after the April 15 war in Sudan and the on going Israel-Hamas war.
But the Saudis see it as an opportunity for influence in Africa. On Thursday, the kingdom announced a $533 million funding portfolio for Africa.
