Cairo: African leaders at an emergency summit in Cairo urged Sudan’s military rulers on Tuesday to hand power to a civilian government within three months, the Egyptian presidency said.
Egypt and representatives from several other African nations gave Sudanese authorities and political actors three months “to implement peaceful... and democratic transition measures”, it said in a statement.
They also urged the African Union to extend its deadline, currently the end of April, for Sudan’s military council to hand power to a civilian authority or face suspension from the regional bloc.
Egypt was hosting emergency summits with African leaders on the upheavals in Sudan and Libya, amid fears that any instability could spill over into neighbouring countries.
As current chair of the African Union, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi was heading the summits, which the presidency said opened with talks on Sudan.
The leaders were to focus on “the evolution of the situation in Sudan”, where demonstrators have kept up protests after the military toppled president Bashir, Sisi’s office said.
They will also seek to “stem the current crisis” in Libya, where commander Khalifa Haftar has been leading an offensive on Tripoli, Egypt’s presidency said.
It said Chadian President Idriss Deby, Rwanda’s head of state Paul Kagame, Congo’s Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Somalia’s Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and Djibouti’s leader Ismail Omar Guelleh were to attend.
The leaders of South Africa and Somalia, among the first to arrive, held separate meetings with the Egyptian president before the first summit on Sudan.
Sisi “affirmed the need to formulate an African vision to address crises in the African continent based on the principle of African solutions for African crises”, his office said after the talks with Ramaphosa.
The summits are the first to be convened by African leaders on the current crises in Sudan and Libya.
On Sudan, the objective “is to discuss... the most appropriate ways to address the evolution of the situation and to contribute to stability and peace”, Egypt’s presidency said.
The AU on April 15 threatened to suspend Sudan if the military does not hand over power within 15 days of that date to a civilian authority.
It has echoed protesters’ demands, saying “a military-led transition would be completely contrary to the aspirations of the people of Sudan”.
The AU suspended Egypt and Central African Republic in 2013 following coups in both countries. Both have since had their membership restored.
AU commission chief Moussa Faki is also expected to participate in the Cairo discussions, along with officials from Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria.
Another summit on Libya, which will group the leaders of Rwanda, South Africa and the Congo with Sisi, will focus on “relaunching a political process... (and) the elimination of terrorism”, Egypt’s presidency said.
Strongman Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army launched an offensive against Tripoli, the seat of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord, on April 4. — AFP
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