Ethiopia PM to revive Sudan talks after crackdown sows terror

Ethiopia’s prime minister arrived in Khartoum yesterday seeking to revive talks between Sudan’s ruling generals and protest leaders as heavily armed paramilitaries remained deployed after a deadly crackdown, leaving residents in ‘terror’. The talks mission by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came after the African Union suspended Sudan on Thursday until the military makes way for a civilian-led transitional authority.

The move by the African bloc was backed by the European Union amid a chorus of condemnation of Sudan’s military rulers over Monday’s deadly crackdown on a week-long sitin outside army headquarters demanding civilian rule. Since the deadly assault, fearful Khartoum residents have remained largely indoors, leaving the streets virtually deserted at a time when Muslims are normally out celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Paramilitaries of the feared Rapid Support Forces, who have their origins in the notorious Janjaweed militia unleashed in the conflict in the western region of Darfur in 2003 and 2004, have remained stationed in a number of the capital’s main squares.

‘State of terror’

Others have been been seen out on patrol in their trademark pickup trucks mounted with heavy machine guns or rocket launchers. “We’re living in a state of terror because of sporadic gunfire,” a resident of south Khartoum said. He said he was “afraid for (his) children to go out in the street,” as the paramilitaries patrolled the streets. In north Khartoum, riot police fired tear gas on Thursday evening after protesters put up makeshift roadblocks made from rocks, bricks and tree trunks.

RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is deputy head of the ruling military council, has warned he will not “allow chaos” and has vowed to tear down all barricades. Doctors close to the demonstrators say 113 people have been killed in Khartoum, including 40 whose bodies were pulled out of the Nile. The health ministry says 61 people have been killed nationwide, 52 of them by “live ammunition” in Khartoum.

The crackdown was launched after the breakdown of talks between protest leaders and the generals on a new transitional ruling body to replace the military council. Despite several initial breakthroughs, the talks hit deadlock over the demonstrators’ demand -- backed by Western and most African governments -- for it to have a civilian majority and a civilian leader. The Ethiopian premier went straight into talks with military council representatives on his arrival in Khartoum, an AFP correspondent reported. Abiy was was also scheduled to meet protest leaders.

“We have received an invitation from the Ethiopian embassy to meet the Ethiopian prime minister at 11:00 am (0900 GMT) and we will go,” prominent protest leader Omar al-Digeir said. The African Union said it was suspending Sudan, “until the effective establishment of a civilian-led Transitional Authority, as the only way to allow the Sudan to exit from the current crisis”. The European Union said it joined the AU in calling for “an immediate end to violence and a credible enquiry into the criminal events of the last days”.