Saudi Arabia, one of many Middle East countries to pour money into Sudan in recent years, is working diplomatically for a ceasefire and restoring a civilian-led transition in the country, the Saudi ambassador to the UK, Khalid bin Bandar, has said.
Clashes erupted in the middle of April between the Sudanese armed forces, who are broadly loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a collection of militia who follow the former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.
The two groupings had previously baulked at the integration of their forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule after the overthrow of the country’s former dictator, Omar al-Bashir, in 2019.
Bandar’s remarks suggest Saudi Arabia may recognise that if the fighting can be controlled it will have to press harder for the military to back civilian rule of some sort. The intense spotlight being placed on Sudan’s stalled transition to democracy in the past fortnight means some of the external actors have come under fresh scrutiny.
Saudi Arabia has been accused in particular of backing Burhan’s armed forces. In November last year, following a meeting between Burhan and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia said it was investing $3bn into the country. As a member of the Quad, including the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US, Saudi Arabia probably has the most diplomatic influence in the country.
The ambassador said on BBC radio: “We have been talking about a permanent cessation of hostilities, political dialogue with the hopeful ultimate result of a civilian government. Now that is not easy. This is the initial phase of diplomacy, but the fact that we got this extension of the ceasefire is on the positive side.
“We have good relationships with as many people as we could. When you are engaging with people, you can then use it with people when you need to. If you are not engaging it is very hard suddenly to build trust. The Middle East is not short of conflicts. We do not need more”.
Asked if he was pressing the two military factions to share power, he said: “It was too early to say – it’s important to include everyone. You can’t pick one side and say: ’Well, you’re not part of the solution.’ Everyone is engaged.”
Pressed on if the two warring military forces were truly interested in democracy, he said: “The ultimate aim is security and stability. There is no perfect solution. It is a going to be progression of events to get to where we would like to.”
In conjunction with other Arab states, Saudi Arabia has been heavily investing in thousands of hectares of fertile land irrigated by the Nile River, allowing them to import entire shipments of agricultural products or livestock via the Red Sea.
In an attempt to lessen the havoc being inflicted by some of the forces it has supported, Saudi Arabia said it had extracted nearly 3,000 people, including 119 Saudis and 2,872 individuals from 80 other nationalities. The kingdom’s evacuation process started on 24 April.
On Friday, the Saudi navy’s ship Makkah arrived at Jeddah carrying 195 people of 16 nationalities including those of the US, UK, Australia, Iraq and Egypt.
The ambassador said the evacuation operation would continue as long as it was safe.
