Sudan: IGAD has become a tool for conspiracy

Sudan Events- Talal Muddathir

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denounced the invitation extended by the IGAD Secretariat to the leader of the Janjaweed militia to attend the emergency summit of IGAD No. 42, and considered the matter a blatant violation of the agreement establishing IGAD and all the rules and traditions of the work of international organizations, and a grave disregard for the victims of genocide, ethnic cleansing, sexual violence and all the atrocities committed by the Janjaweed gangs in various parts of the Sudan.
In a statement it issued on Saturday the Sudanese Ministry for Foreign Affairs, underlined that there was no need to recall that IGAD was established as an organization of sovereign governments whose goal is to strengthen regional peace and security, and achieve integration among member states, and that there is no place in it for terrorist and criminal groups.
The Foreign Ministry indicated that IGAD was not satisfied with remaining mum vis a vis the atrocities committed by the terrorist militia, which were condemned by international organizations such as the United Nations, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, the League of Arab States, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, and a number of countries, led by the United States but, rather it sought to grant the legitimacy to the militia by inviting it to a meeting in which only the heads of state and government of member states would participate.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry considered that this shameful precedent would not only destroy the credibility of IGAD as a regional organization, because it does not respect its regulations and basic systems and seeks to undermine the sovereignty of member states, as well as represents sponsorship of terrorism, genocide, and ethnic cleansing, and encouragement for the groups that commit atrocities that the region is suffering from.
The Sudanese Ministry concluded its statement by emphasizing that Sudan’s options remain open towards IGAD in light of its insistence on repudiating its basic system and the requirements of international law, and accepting that it will be a tool for conspiring against Sudan and its people.