Sudan urges African Union to lift suspension

February 13, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan’s foreign minister, Ali Youssef, on Thursday called on the African Union’s Peace and Security Council to reconsider its assessment of the situation in Sudan and lift the country’s suspension from the continental body.

In a written message to the Peace and Security Council, ahead of its meetings on Friday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Youssef urged the council to “re-evaluate the situation in Sudan in light of recent developments and the need for Sudan to return to its rightful place in the continental organization,” according to a foreign ministry statement.

The African Union suspended Sudan’s membership on October 27, 2021, two days after the military ousted a civilian government formed after the ouster of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir.

The statement added that the minister’s message also outlined the roadmap announced by Sovereign Council leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan after consultations with political and community forces.

It provided a detailed account of the developments in Sudan “since the dissolved Rapid Support Forces (RSF) rebelled and launched a bloody coup attempt, then waged a full-scale war against the Sudanese people and their national state, supported by regional forces that do not wish the continent well,” the statement said.

It said these unnamed forces have supplied the RSF with advanced weapons and recruited mercenaries from all over the world, bringing their numbers to more than 200,000.

The message noted that despite the government’s commitment to peace efforts since the early weeks of the war, including signing the Jeddah Declaration, the RSF has not only reneged on its commitments but exploited the agreement to occupy more civilian objects, villages and safe towns, in violation of the declaration.

It also detailed the unprecedented atrocities committed by the “rebel militia,” citing genocide in Darfur, massacres against civilians, the use of rape as a weapon of war, the targeting of infrastructure and national institutions, and the looting of public and private property.