Somali Magazine 29 Aug 2023- Sudan’s army head, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, will go to Egypt on Tuesday, his office stated, for his first trip overseas in four months of combat against paramilitaries.
General Burhane, the country’s de facto leader since his putsch in 2021, is scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi “on the latest developments in Sudan and bilateral relations between the two countries,” according to the Sovereignty Council, the country’s highest authority.
The army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, the former military number two, have been at odds since April 15. Because of the widespread pandemonium, the death toll is usually estimated at 5,000, and the UN has tallied over 4.6 million displaced people and refugees.
General Burhane appeared in public in civilian clothing for the first time on Tuesday in Port Sudan (east). Since the beginning of the conflict, he had made just a few appearances in fatigues, gun in hand, delivering countless bellicose pronouncements.
His jet took off from Port Sudan, the country’s sole working airport, after Khartoum’s was attacked on the first day of the conflict.
General Burhane is accompanied by Sudan’s intelligence chief, Ahmad Ibrahim Muffadal, and the country’s interim foreign minister, Ali al-Sadeq.
This is his first journey outside the nation, and it comes at a time when whispers of discussions between the two generals are circulating.
He landed in Port Sudan on Sunday, calling for a “end to the rebellion” by paramilitaries.
Several attempts at conflict resolution, mostly by Saudi Arabia and the United States, have failed.
Egypt, Sudan’s huge northern neighbour that has taken in over 250,000 Sudanese refugees, created a group of Sudan’s neighbours with six other nations in July.