The UN Secretary-General's personal envoy for Sudan says diplomatic momentum is the strongest in years and that a Quintet meeting with the Tasis alliance led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo could take place in Addis Ababa.
The UN Secretary-General's personal envoy for Sudan, Pekka Haavisto, said he expects to meet the bloc led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) before Christmas to discuss a transition to civilian rule, in an interview with The National at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, published on 2 November. Dagalo chairs the Presidential Council of the Tasis-led Government of Peace and Unity.
"We are still waiting for a meeting with Hemedti's bloc to take place before Christmas," Haavisto said. The National reported that a meeting of the Quintet (the UN, African Union, European Union, Arab League and IGAD) with the RSF and its allies could be held in Addis Ababa. No date has been announced.
Haavisto said "good meetings" had already been held with the anti-war coalition led by former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok and with what he called the democratic bloc in army-controlled areas. "In our last meeting in October in Addis Ababa, we got a feeling that we're advancing," he said. "Diplomatically, the efforts are strong, and now even more strong than some years ago."
Parallel tracks
UN political affairs officials say Somoud representatives met the Quintet in Addis Ababa on 13 October, and Haavisto has said that 21 countries and five international institutions took part in consultations in Geneva on 21 October, EconoTimes reported.
Separately, Sudanese political groups including the Democratic Bloc and Somoud are expected to meet in Switzerland in late November under the Swiss-backed Nyon process, The Sudan Times reported, citing sources quoted by Asharq Bloomberg. The agenda is expected to cover a ceasefire, humanitarian access and a shared framework for ending the war. The Swiss foreign ministry has not confirmed the dates.
Tasis has already engaged the envoy directly. Its foreign minister, Amar Amoun Deldoum, met Haavisto in Nairobi in late October, according to The Sudan Times, which cited Erem News.
Obstacles remain
The army's commander, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has repeatedly rejected ceasefire proposals and vowed to fight on, and The National noted that the RSF has yet to make clear commitments to the proposals on the table. Massad Boulos, a senior US adviser on Africa, has said there is "no future" for either Burhan or Dagalo in Sudan's political leadership, The National reported in September.
Image: Pekka Haavisto in Helsinki, August 2023. rajatonvimma / VJ Group Random Doctors, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.