By Editorial Team,
A planned meeting of the council of ministers of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development or IGAD in South Sudan’s capital this week has been cancelled due to the ongoing fighting in Khartoum,
Sudan is the current chair of IGAD however, the ongoing fighting between forces led by General Al Fattah Al Burhan and Rapid Support Forces of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Khartoum International Airport is closed and Sudan cannot participate in the meeting.
“The recent developments in Sudan since the 15th of April led to the closure of Khartoum International airport. Due to that, Sudan as Chair will not be able to participate in its full capacity in the above mentioned meeting.“ Wrote Sudan’s Embassy in the Republic of Djibouti to other IGAD member states.
Sudan also argued that a virtual meeting of the IGAD heads of state and government already took place and there is no need to have a meeting of the foreign ministers as of now.
“Considering tthe general practices of IGAD, the Ministerial meetings usually precede the summit meeting (being the highest policy organs) which is not the case in this recent practice.
According to the above, Sudan as a Chair of IGAD’s Council of Ministers (CoM) kindly requests the postponement of the CoM Extraordinary meeting. The new date, after due consultations with the secretariat and the host country will be communicated in due course.” Reads part of Sudan’s letter to IGAD member states.
Meanwhile fighting is still ongoing in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan with no clear indication of stopping anytime soon.
