The exiled leader of Sudan’s civilian movement arrived in The Hague as part of a European tour on Monday, as he seeks support for a US and Saudi-led peace process and a political resolution to the devastating conflict.
Abdalla Hamdok, who served as prime minister in Sudan’s short-lived first civilian government, is in the Netherlands and will visit Germany and the UK later this week. He met French diplomats at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris last week.
He is joined by a delegation from Somoud, an alliance of civilian groups and political parties that he leads. The coalition is seeking a peaceful resolution to the conflict that does not reward either of the warring parties – the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group.
More than 150,000 people have died in the conflict across the country, and about 12 million have fled their homes in what the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
He met members of the Sudanese community in The Hague on Monday, where he spoke about the humanitarian situation in Sudan. He also sought to rally support for the US-led peace process, which he described last week as the “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Also present with him in The Hague were Babiker Faisal, the head of Somoud’s foreign relations committee, Dr Bakri Al Jaq, the alliance's official spokesman, and former cabinet minister Khaled Omar Youssef, a member of the executive office. Mr Hamdok was also received by the Sudanese community at a reception in Paris last week.
Sumoud has backed proposals in the US-led roadmap that call for a three-month truce and the transition to a civilian government, which was put forward by the “Quad” countries – the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt – last September.
“The current crisis in Sudan is the largest in the world. Larger than Gaza and Ukraine combined,” Mr Hamdok told France24 ahead of his meetings with French officials at le Quai d’Orsay last week. “It’s almost a collapse of the state. It is really a catastrophic situation.”
He acknowledged that the peace process could fail if it does not successfully mediate between the sides. “Any idea of picking and choosing one side in this equation is a recipe for prolonging the war. We would like to see all these genuine efforts in the mediation help get to an end and stop this war,” he said.
