Warring Sudan has rejected the appointment of Kenyan President William Ruto as head of a quartet to facilitate peace under the regional bloc, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad)
The junta leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan accused Nairobi of having “harboured” sympathies for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose leader Mohammed Hamdan Daglo Hemedti was once his deputy, but is now an arch-enemy. The latest statement on Thursday came as Sudan had also rejected the Igad mediation schedule, which would have seen Ruto arrange for a face-to-face meeting, for the first time, between the two warring generals.
Igad had insisted it would stick to the mediation quartet led by Kenya in the search for peace in Sudan, even after Khartoum rejected the proposals, in spite of Sudanese protests.
According to officials familiar with the decision, resolutions publicised in an official Igad communique remain in force until formally revised by the heads of state and government of the eight-member bloc.
On Monday, Igad had named Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti as members of a quartet to help Sudanese warring generals seek peace.
Sudan said, after the meeting, that Igad announced the mediation plan without consent from Burhan.
The rejection portends early problems with the ‘roadmap’ to help achieve long-term ceasefire and came as the governor of West Darfur was assassinated.
