Coup in Sudan After Feltman Talk: Is that a Coincidence or Deliberate Act?

Ethiopian Herald

Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the military chief undertook a coup, which might bring more unmanageable crises in Sudan, over Prime Minister AbdallaHamdok after U.S. Special Envoy met him. Is this a coincidence or deliberated act?

Jeffrey Feltman, who almost pushed Lebanon toward civil war when he was ambassador, met Burhan, later there is a coup in Sudan. Feltman touches break beyond repair like Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Yemen are still in chaos as he has played a destructive role in these states.

US diplomats had barely cleared Sudanese airspace when the country’s military began deploying across the capital, Khartoum, in the early hours of Monday and rounding up the civilian leaders it believed betrayed the democratic revolution that toppled long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

By Monday morning, a state of emergency had been imposed, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was detained, and critical parts of the country’s transitional constitution were suspended.

Since June, Hamdok, a civilian technocrat, had been warning about exactly this turn of events. In perhaps its most transparent act of its takeover, the military had even signaled to observers at home and abroad that a coup d’état remained a lifeline of last resort, as pressure mounted on the military to transfer its chairmanship of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council to civilian leadership. That message came in the form of a foiled coup attempt earlier this month which many observers viewed as a trial balloon to test local and international reaction.

The expert of the International Crisis Group, Michael Waheed Hanna, told Middle East 24 that the timing of the coup – after these meetings in particular – raises many questions, and prompts some to question the nature of the American role in Sudan.

Hanna said in a tweet to him on Twitter, “The United States’ concerns about the direction of events were clear, but it seems clear that the American diplomatic efforts did not affect the Sudanese army, and this emerges from the timing of the coup, only one day later, which will raise questions about guarantees from other regional countries.“

Sarah Watson, director of the Organization for Democracy in the Arab World, said that the US government had helped discredit the Sudanese transitional government and destabilized it in exchange for removing Sudan from the list of terrorist states.

“The United States has given the military forces in Sudan the upper hand, and now we are seeing the consequences,” Watson added to Al Jazeera Net.

It is to be recalled that Feltman made comment about Ethiopia and the region that lacks respect and courtesy to African partners contrary to his appointment mission, Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States FitsumAregasaid in his Foreign Policy magazine interview.

“As soon as assuming the new responsibility, the diplomat made the unsubstantiated claim that the growing alliance of authoritarian leaders Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia has seriously weakened the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the regional block” but contrary to the special envoy’s opinion IGAD has been executing commendable activities to bring the partnerships of the horn of African countries for peace and development.“

“Besides his failure to recognize the current situation of the Horn of Africa, he has disrespected leaders of the sovereign states, and his attempts to ridicule them sadden the people of respective countries.” His mockery of the partnerships of the three neighboring countries has also an adverse impact on the peace and stability of the region.

His irresponsible comments could lead the volatile Horn of Africa to further chaos whilst his comparison of the current situation in the Tigray state of Ethiopia with Syria also puts the diplomat’s integrity in question, the source indicated.

Sudan crises may be turned into unmanageable crises due to its political tension and the undertaken coup if not managed in time, said Professor Beruk Hailu, Historian, and Political Science Scholar.

If lawlessness has happened in Sudan, it opens ways for anti-peace actors who are working to destabilize the region. Hence, the Sudan military wings have the potential to abort this happening.

Sudanese are expressing their anger in the situation. This popular uprising if not managed in time, wave may be extended to other areas. Hence, managing the popular uprising properly helps all actors maximize the peace journey, he recommended.

Jeffery Feltman warned the military wing in Sudan not to undertake military action over civilians to realize democratic transition, the expert said, but the military wing has taken military action. Consolidating power by the military will result in political and economic sanctions in Sudan if not appropriately handled, and Ethiopians wish Sudanese people peace, democracy, and development.