The government accused the East African bloc of “violating” Sudan’s sovereignty by inviting the RSF chief to a summit.

The government of war-ravaged Sudan said it has suspended its membership in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the East African regional bloc that has been trying to broker talks between the country’s warring factions.

Saturday’s announcement was made by the stalwart State Department Abdel Fattah al-Burhanthe army chief and de facto leader of Sudan.

The Sudanese army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). have been fighting for nine months in a war that has killed thousands of people and displaced more than seven million.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Burhan had sent a letter to Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleho, the current head of IGAD, “to inform him of the Sudanese government’s decision to suspend its membership in this organization.”

The government had announced this week that it froze its relations with the bloc ahead of a meeting in Uganda on Thursday after inviting RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan.”Hemedti“Dagalo. It accused the bloc of “violating Sudan’s sovereignty” and setting a “dangerous precedent.”

At its summit on Thursday, IGAD reiterated its call for an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” in the “unjust war impacting the people of Sudan.”

The bloc also expressed its “continuing readiness to offer its good offices to facilitate an all-inclusive peace process” and reiterated its call for a face-to-face meeting between the two sides.

A final communique from the extraordinary meeting gave the generals two weeks to meet.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry said it was this item, which was placed on the agenda without Sudan’s consent, that led the country to take the further step of suspending its membership.

The ministry also accused the summit communique of violating Sudan’s sovereignty and “hurting the feelings of victims of atrocities committed by rebel militias,” a reference to the RSF.

In parallel with the USA and Saudi Arabia, IGAD had repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to mediate between the two sides.

Months of war

The war broke out in mid-April over an internationally supported plan to incorporate the RSF into the army and initiate a transition to elections.

The army and the RSF shared power after longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir was toppled during a popular uprising in 2019. Before clashes erupted, they jointly staged a coup in 2021 that scuttled efforts to move Sudan toward democracy.

Throughout the conflict, both sides have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminate shelling of residential areas, torture and arbitrary detention of civilians.

The RSF has also been accused of ethnically motivated mass murders – particularly in Darfur – as well as rampant looting and the use of rape as a weapon of war.

According to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, more than 13,000 people were killed in the conflict.

According to the United Nations, an estimated 7.5 million civilians have fled the fighting abroad or to other parts of the country.