**The African Union (AU), on Wednesday, called on all of its member states, as well as the international community, “not to recognise any government or parallel entity aimed at partitioning and governing part of the territory of the Republic of Sudan or its institutions”.**
It said the announcement of a parallel government in war-torn Sudan risked cleaving the country, already ravaged by nearly two years of unrest.
In a statement, it said the organisation “does not recognise the so-called government or parallel entity in the Republic of Sudan”.
SPONSOR AD
Also, it called on African countries and the international community to refrain from supporting or assisting any armed or political group towards establishing a parallel government or state in Sudan.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a brutal conflict with Sudan’s army (SAF) since April 2023 in a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and uprooted more than 12 million people.
The war, which was initially sparked by disagreements over the integration of the RSF into the army, has torn the country apart, with the military now controlling eastern and northern Sudan and the RSF dominating almost all of western Darfur and parts of the south.
The RSF and its allies signed a “founding charter” of a parallel government in Nairobi last month.
On Wednesday, the AU condemned the move and “warned that such action carries a huge risk of partitioning of the country.”
The signatories to the document intend to create a “government of peace and unity” in rebel-controlled areas.
They have also pledged to “build a secular, democratic, decentralised state, based on freedom, equality and justice, without cultural, ethnic, religious or regional bias.”
In early March, the RSF and its allies signed, again in Nairobi, a “Transitional Constitution”.
On Tuesday, the European Union also reiterated its commitment to the “unity and territorial integrity of Sudan”.
“Plans for parallel ‘government’ by the Rapid Support Forces risk the partition of the country and jeopardise the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people for an inclusive Sudanese-owned process that leads to the restoration of civilian rule,” it said in a statement.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan, in a statement, hailed the AU for taking a strong position against the RSF, adding that: “This principled and decisive position from the continental mother organisation underscores the international community’s total rejection of the conspiracy of the genocidal RSF militia and its regional sponsor, along with those who follow its directives in the region, against the unity and sovereignty of Sudan.