BothBurhanandDagalo havebecome closeto the Saudis
andthe Emiratissincethe warin Yemenbeganfouryears
ago.
TheEgyptian government is alsoparticularly wor-
riedabout the protests in Sudan,which are reminiscent
of what happenedin its country duringthe ArabSpring
protestsin 2014.TheEgyptian armyhadquashedpro-
democracy protestsin Cairowithevenmoredeadly
force. As manyas 800protesterswerekilledin Cairo
thatyear.ManySudanese believethattheirarmyis
adoptingthesamemethods. Sudaneseprotestingon
thestreetsopenlysay thatbutfor Egypt,SaudiArabia
andthe UAE,the militarywouldhavebeenout of power
by now.
Thereis alsothefearthatsomebodylikeDagalo
wouldemergeas a “Sisi”-or “Khalifa Haftar”-likefigure
in Sudan.In Libya,Gen.Haftar seems on theverge of
defeatingthe civiliangovernmentin Libyawiththe back-
ingof theFrench,theSaudisandtheEmiratis.The
UnitedStatesCharged’affairesin Sudan,Steven Koutsis,
sharedan “Iftar”mealwithDagalo in May.
TheIslamistpartiesin Sudan, whichwereindifferent
to the fateof President Bashir,nowhavestartedsupport-
ingtheinterimmilitarycouncil. Theystageda demon-
stration in support of themilitary a fewdaysafterthe
massacre of civilians.They waved bannersthatwere in
favourof the Shariaandagainstsecularism.TheSaudis
andthe Emiratishaveofferedmorethan$3 billionin aid
to the Sudanesemilitarygovernment to temporarily tide
it overtheeconomicandpoliticalcrisisandstrengthen
themilitary’sposition.Theprotesterson thestreetsof
Khartoumandtheoppositionpartieshavecontemptu-
ouslyrejectedthe offer.
SaudiArabia andtheUAEarealsodependenton
Sudanesefighterssincea significantsectionof the mer-
cenaryarmydeployed in Yemen hailsfromSudan,many
of themfromDarfur. Thereare around 10,000 Sudanese
fighting in Yemenandtheirroleis crucialin the Saudi-
imposedwaron Yemen.Dagalo,according to reports
appearingin the Sudaneseandregionalmedia,hasper-
sonally profited from the war in Yemen.At a recentpress
conference,Dagalo boastedthathe hadset aside$350
million fromhis ownfundsto helpSudan’s economy.He
claimed thathe madethisfortunein Yemenandfrom
profits fromgoldmining.PEACEFULPROTESTSTOCONTINUE
After the Khartoumincident, the Sudanese Professionals
Association(SPA),whichhas beenat the forefrontof the
struggleto restore civilianrulein the country,issuedan
appeal to thepeopleto continue protesting peacefully
andto “paralyse public life”by blocking the mainroads
andbridgesovertheNilein Khartoum.TheSudanese
CommunistParty,whichhasbeenplayingan activerole
in the protests, saidthe resumption of dialoguewith the
present military leadershipwouldbe an exercisein futil-
ity.
A communistpartyleader, Amalal-Zein,saidthe
membersof the rulingmilitarycouncilwereall remnants
of theoldregimedespitetheirrolein theouster of the
former militaryrulerOmaral-Bashir in April.“Allmem-
bersof the militarycouncilbelongto the old regime,and
thatis whywe are bettingon younger officers,”shesaid.
“Weare hopingthatpatrioticpoliceofficersandmilitary
officerswillactto protecttheSudanesepeople.”The
CommunistPartyhadwarnedin Aprilthatthe Sudanese
military coupwas“a carboncopy”of the eventsin Egypt
in 2011.ThepartyalsodenouncedtheRSFas “militia
thugswhohave terrorised andkilled thousands of
people”.Thetactics usedby the RSFin Khartoumwere
similar to thoseusedby theJanjaweed in Darfurand
other partsof Sudan.
Afterthe crackdown,the militaryinitiallyannounced
thatit hadsuspended talks withthe civilians. Theruling
military councilhadevenannounceda newtimetable for
thetransitionto democracy. Lt Gen.Burhansaidelec-
tionswouldbe heldwithinsevento ninemonths.The
armyandtheoppositionhadpreviouslyagreedon a
longertransitionperiodof up to threeyears.
AbiyAhmed,the PrimeMinisterof Ethiopia, wasin
Khartoumsoonafterthe bloodyevents of June3. He was
on a missionto kick-start talksbetween the militaryand
the civilians onceagain.He has sinceexpressedoptimism
about the possibleresumptionof talks. Oppositionlead-
ersandcivil societygroups, evenwhile welcoming
Ahmed’smediation,saidthat meaningfultalkscould
onlyresumeif the military admitted thata massacre had
takenplace.
“TheTransitionalMilitaryCouncil hasto admitto
thecrimeit committed,”Omaral Digeit, a prominent
leader of the protestmovement,toldthe media in Khar-
toum. He alsodemanded an internationalprobeintothe
massacre. TheSPAdemandedthe immediatetransfer of
power to a civiliangovernmentandthe“dissolution” of
the Janjaweedmilitia. $MOHAMEDHAMDAN DAGALO,deputyheadof the
rulingmilitary councilof Sudan, in KhartoumonMay 28.
AFP