Sudan protest organizers reject UN mediation offer

KHARTOUM— One of the major organizers of Sudan’s anti-coup protests, the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, refused an offer from the UN to mediate talks with the military.

The UN has hoped to help broker a deal following a military coup last October.

The UN envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, has said talks were the “sustainable path forward toward democracy and peace,” and called for an “end to the violence.” He claimed the process would be “inclusive,” though protesters do not seek a power-sharing agreement but rather a return to civilian rule.

The UN Security Council will meet Wednesday to discuss Sudan.

Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change, the umbrella coalition for the groups behind the protests, said it had not received any details of Perthes’ proposal.

The UN’s offer to mediate comes after the resignation of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. He said the inability of the generals to compromise with protesters was behind his decision to step down.

The Sudanese Professionals’ Association has said it sees Perthes as being behind that arrangement, which they’ve discredited as it sidelined pro-democracy forces, a position Hamdok similarly realized was untenable when he resigned.

The protest organizers’ rejection of the offer came amid renewed protests, which are expected to continue.

More than 60 people have been killed since the military took over.

The Sudanese Professionals’ Association said in a statement that the “only way” out of the crisis was through the removal of the generals from the seats of power in the country.

The protest movement wants civilian leadership restored, underscored by the protest slogan, “No negotiations, no compromise, no power-sharing” with the generals.

The coup on Oct 25 came two years after mass protests led to the ouster of the country’s previous longtime autocratic ruler, Omar al-Bashir.

Together with youth groups known as Resistance Committees, the Sudanese Professionals’ Association have buttressed the movement against military rule.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK