Central Africa : ECCAS agrees to “a road map” for the transition

The mediator of the regional organization bringing together 11 Central African countries assured Wednesday that the new power resulting from the military putsch in Gabon had accepted the principle of the joint elaboration of a "roadmap for a rapid return to constitutional order .

The President of the Central African Republic, Faustin Archange Touadéra , "facilitator" dispatched to Libreville by the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), did not give any details on the timetable or the future content of this "road map " , in a speech on Gabonese state television.

On August 30, the army "put an end" , by a bloodless coup , to the power of Ali Bongo Ondimba , accusing him of having grossly rigged the presidential election of which he had just been declared the winner. , as well as "bad governance" and "massive" corruption .

The putsch led by General Brice Oligui Nguema , which rallied behind him all the army and police corps, aroused the rallying of almost all the parties of the former opposition and part of the ex-majority, as well as a massive outpouring of a population thanking him for having "liberated" it from 55 years of "Bongo dynasty" in power.

He was sworn in as President of a transition on Monday, the duration of which he did not set. And promised to "hand over power to civilians" at the end of this transition, after having adopted "by referendum" a new Constitution which will have to be drawn up with the participation of "all the living forces of the Nation" and which will lead to "free and transparent elections" .

ECCAS had "strongly condemned" the "coup" and suspended Gabon from its authorities.

"ECCAS has appointed me as a facilitator" , with the "mission" "to develop, by mutual agreement with the President of the transition , a roadmap allowing a return fast to the constitutional order" , simply declared Mr. Touadéra. A senior official of General Oligui's services told AFP that the two men had just "agreed" at this stage on the upcoming development of this roadmap.

Ali Bongo, in power for 14 years, was elected in 2009 upon the death of his father Omar Bongo Ondimba , who had ruled for more than 41 years this small state, one of the richest in Africa thanks to its oil but where a third of the residents live below the poverty line .

 

Gabon: deposed president Ali Bongo “free to go abroad”

The deposed president of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, is "free to move" and "can go" abroad for medical reasons, announced Wednesday General Brice Oligui Nguema who overthrew him a week ago.

Ali Bongo, 64, in power for 14 years, had been under house arrest since the military coup of August 30, carried out without bloodshed less than an hour after his camp proclaimed his re-election in a vote described as fraudulent by the putschists.

The power of General Oligui, proclaimed Transitional President, also accuses the family entourage, in particular his wife and one of his sons, both in detention, as well as members of his cabinet, of having embezzled "massively public funds " and ruled the country "irresponsibly and unpredictably" by manipulating an Ali Bongo weakened by a serious stroke in 2018.

“Given his state of health, former President of the Republic Ali Bongo Ondimba is free to move. He can, if he wishes, go abroad to carry out his medical checks,” announced the soldiers in a press release, read on public television, from General Oligui, who had led the putsch.

Doha : Mass exodus from Khartoum and the proof is in Qatar after a decree dissolving “Rapid Support”

On his third foreign visit since the beginning of the clashes, Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan went to Doha, on an official visit, to discuss developments in the situation in his country. Al-Burhan's visit comes on the morning of his issuance of a decree dissolving the Rapid Support Forces.

On Thursday, Sudanese Army Commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan headed to the Qatari capital, Doha, on an official visit, to discuss developments in the situation in his country.

The Sudanese Sovereignty Council, headed by Al-Burhan, said in a statement that the latter will hold "discussions with the Emir of the State of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on the course of bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to enhance them, issues of common concern, and developments in the situation in Sudan."

Al-Burhan is accompanied by Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq and Director of the General Intelligence Service, Lieutenant General Ahmed Ibrahim Mufaddal, according to the statement, which did not mention the duration of the visit.

Al-Burhan's visit to Doha is his third foreign visit after Cairo and Juba, since the outbreak of clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, led by Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), in mid-April.

Decree to dissolve the Rapid Support Forces

In a related context, Al-Burhan issued, on Wednesday evening, two constitutional decrees, one stipulating the dissolution of the “Rapid Support” forces, and the other concerned with abolishing the “Rapid Support Law,” which in 2017 authorized those forces to report to the Sudanese army.

A statement issued by the Sovereignty Council stated that its president, "the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, today issued a constitutional decree dissolving the Rapid Support Forces."

The statement added that Al-Burhan "directed the General Command of the People's Armed Forces, the General Secretariat of the Sovereignty Council and other concerned authorities to put the decision into effect."

He stated that the decision comes based on "the repercussions of the rebellion of these forces against the state and the grave violations they committed against citizens, and the deliberate sabotage of the country's infrastructure."

And he added, "In addition to its violation of the objectives, tasks and principles of its establishment contained in the Rapid Support Forces Act of 2017 AD."

In a separate statement, Al-Burhan "also directed the General Command of the People's Armed Forces, the General Secretariat of the Sovereignty Council, and other concerned authorities, to put into effect the decree abolishing the Rapid Support Forces Act of 2017 and its amendments for the year 2019."

In January 2017, the Sudanese parliament approved the "Rapid Support Forces" bill, which is a law that made these forces affiliated with the Sudanese army, after it was affiliated with the Security and Intelligence Service.

At the time, the law stipulated that "the Rapid Support Forces are affiliated with the armed forces, and obey the order of the Supreme Commander."

The "Quick Support" is a combat force that was formed to fight the rebels in Darfur, and later to protect the borders and maintain order. It was established in 2013 as a force affiliated with the Security and Intelligence Service. There are no official estimates of its number, but it is certain that the number exceeds tens of thousands.

Mass exodus from Khartoum

On the field level, hundreds of families were displaced (Wednesday) from a suburb of Khartoum the day after 19 civilians were killed in a bombing carried out by the army on sites of the Rapid Support Forces, but it missed its target, according to what activists and residents reported to Agence France-Presse.

One of the residents, who asked not to be named, said, "Hundreds of families have been displaced from the neighborhoods of Umbada after the intensification of the clashes there yesterday and today."

On Tuesday evening, the "Resistance Committees" in Umbada, a gathering of anti-war activists who provide assistance to the population, confirmed that "shelling by artillery and marches was targeting two positions of the Rapid Support Forces, which did not hit its target, and led to the death of 19 civilians."

Clashes continued (Wednesday) in Khartoum and its suburbs between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, according to testimonies of residents in several areas.

Since the outbreak of the war nearly five months ago, about five thousand people have been killed and 4.8 million people have been displaced inside and outside the country.

The war led to a further deterioration of the health situation in Sudan, which was considered one of the poorest countries in the world before the war broke out between the two military leaders.

The World Health Organization has counted more than 3,000 cases of measles and "84 deaths as a result of this disease," while the population also faces the risk of malaria and cholera, two diseases that spread during the rainy season.

The United Nations constantly repeats that it needs more financial support, as it has received only a quarter of the funding needed to meet the needs of the 25 million Sudanese who depend on humanitarian aid to survive.

The army and the Rapid Support Forces exchange accusations of being responsible for starting the fighting and committing violations during successive truces. This left more than 3 thousand people dead, most of them civilians, and more than 4 million displaced persons and refugees inside and outside one of the poorest countries in the world, according to the United Nations.