Sudan’s army will withdraw from negotiations meant to find a way out of the country’s political crisis, its military leader Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan said on Monday in a major concession to the pro-democracy groups that have been calling on the military to step aside.
The decision leaves civilians to hammer out a political road map by themselves, after which Gen Burhan said he would dissolve the military-led Sovereign Council that he chairs when a civilian government is formed.
In a televised address to the nation, he said the military would abide by the solution the civilians would reach.
Gen Al Burhan's surprise announcement would allow the pro-democracy and other civilian groups to restore the political transition process derailed by a military coup last October that he led.
The announcement also comes at a time when the movement against the military was gaining steam after security forces killed nine protesters and wounded more than 600 last week during the largest anti-military rallies in months.
The latest deaths took the number of protesters killed since the October 25 coup to 114. About 6,000 others have been injured.
Gen Al Burhan's change of tack, however, also puts the resolve and unity of the pro-democracy groups to the test.
They have been beset by differences and internal divisions, exchanging accusations of opportunism or betrayal of the principles of the 2018-19 uprising that toppled the 29-year regime of dictator Omar al Bashir.
Gen Al Burhan said the aim of his decision to withdraw the military from the negotiations is to "allow the political and revolutionary forces along with other national factions to sit down and form a government of independent technocrats that takes care of the requirements of the transitional period".
"The armed forces will not be used as a bridge for any political force to reach power and will be committed to the implementation of the outcome of that dialogue," said Gen Al Burhan.
"I hope that these forces will immediately start a serious dialogue that restores the unity of the Sudanese people."
After the formation of the government, he said, the military-led Sovereign Council that he chairs will be dissolved and a supreme council of the armed forces will be formed to take charge of security and defense issues.
Gen Al Burhan's announcement followed the indefinite postponement last month of the negotiations facilitated by the UN, the African Union and the regional IGAD group.
The postponement followed the boycott of the process by virtually all opposition groups. The United Nations said the boycott rendered the negotiations meaningless.
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Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
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The 15 players selected
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UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures: Monday, first 50-over match; Wednesday, second 50-over match; Thursday, third 50-over match
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Director: Rupert Wyatt
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
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Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
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- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
