AL-JAZIRA STATE, Sudan, Jan 17, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Sudan's army-aligned
government on Tuesday suspended ties with the east African bloc IGAD,
accusing it of "violating" the country's sovereignty by inviting a rival
paramilitary chief to a summit.

Nine months after war broke out between the regular army and the paramilitary
Rapid Support Forces, the army has been losing territory while paramilitary
leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has been touring African capitals.

In a further boost to his diplomatic standing, IGAD extended an invite to
Daglo to a summit in Uganda on Thursday, which he accepted.

Daglo confirmed his attendance in a statement early Wednesday and called for
negotiations "not only between the two sides" but including "national
institutions supporting democracy, civil society, religious organisations,
youth and all the people".

But the IGAD invitation prompted the foreign ministry, loyal to army chief
and Sudan's de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, to announce it was
suspending its relationship with the bloc.

It accused IGAD of "violating Sudan's sovereignty" and setting a "dangerous
precedent".

The bloc -- in parallel with the United States and Saudi Arabia -- had
repeatedly attempted to mediate between the two warring generals, but to no
avail.

The ministry had on Saturday accused the bloc of lending Daglo's "militia"
legitimacy by inviting it to a meeting that will be attended by member heads
of state and government.

Burhan had recently accused the bloc of bias and seeking to intervene in "an
internal matter".

Daglo is fresh off a tour of six African capitals including IGAD members,
while analysts say the army chief is growing more and more isolated
diplomatically as his troops lose ground to RSF advances.

Burhan has reacted angrily to Daglo's growing diplomatic status, accusing
African leaders receiving him of complicity in atrocities against Sudanese
civilians.

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

The RSF has also been accused of ethnically-motivated mass killings, rampant
looting and rapes.

The war has killed more than 13,000 people, according to a conservative
estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project.

Around 7.5 million civilians have fled the fighting either abroad or to other
parts of the country, according to UN figures.