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US aid chief Samantha Power on Tuesday called on the Sudanese military to unite with ex-rebels and paramilitary forces to support a difficult political transition and a critical peace deal.
Power’s remarks came at the end of his four-day visit to Sudan, which has been grappling with deep political divisions and economic hardship since the April 2019 ousting of strongman Omar al-Bashir.
The integration of the powerful Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the Sudanese army has become the last challenge of the transition.
The RSF, formed in 2013 to crush rebels fighting Bashir’s government, included members of Darfur’s notorious Janjaweed militias, who are accused of committing war crimes during a conflict that has left 300,000 dead, according to the report. the UN.
In addition, Sudan wants former rebel forces, including those in Darfur, who once fought both RSF and regular forces, to join the national army under a landmark peace deal in October 2020. .
“The United States agrees that the Sudanese army should have a single, unified command,” Power said in a speech at the University of Khartoum.
“We will actively support civilian-led security reform and the formal integration of the Rapid Support Forces and former armed opposition groups.
Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development, arrived in Sudan on Saturday, meeting with the country’s army chief, head of state Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and visiting Darfur.
On Tuesday, the USAID chief announced $ 56 million in “life-saving aid” to Sudan, and an additional $ 4.3 million to support the country’s elections at the end of the transition period in 2024.
She also said a coronavirus vaccine delivery would arrive in the coming days.
Power also visited the Sudanese refugee camp of Um Raquba, where thousands have settled after fleeing conflict in Ethiopia’s neighboring Tigray region.
She is due to fly to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where she is expected to pressure the authorities to gain humanitarian access to conflict-ravaged Tigray, as fears grow that millions of people there face starvation. .
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to Tigray last November to arrest and disarm the leaders of the then ruling party in the region, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF).
Thousands of people have been killed and tens of thousands have fled to Sudan.
On Monday, residents of a town in eastern Sudan reported seeing bodies with gunshot wounds or tied hands washing the river on the border with Tigray.
At a Tuesday press conference in Khartoum, Power said the reports appeared to be “the latest example of systematic violence against civilians” in Tigray.
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