SUDAN is suspending its membership of north-east African bloc Igad over an attempt to mediate the brutal conflict in the country.
Igad has been trying to end the nine month-long war between Sudan’s army and rival paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
On Thursday Sudan’s government criticised Igad for inviting the RSF’s chief to a summit.
Khartoum now says a statement released by Igad was offensive to Sudan.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) was founded in 1996 and is made up of eight states – Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea Sudan and Somalia.
Its current vision is to transform north-east Africa into a upper middle-income economy and a “continental beacon of regional peace, stability, and security by 2050”.
Igad was heavily involved in the 2005 peace process that ended a separate 22-year war in Sudan and the bloc also oversaw the installation of a transitional government in 2004, during a Somali civil war. Igad’s military forces were also a precursor to African Union mission currently tackling Somalia’s insecurity.
On Thursday, leaders of Igad’s member countries met in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, for a summit.
Sudan’s military-led government refused to attend after learning that the RSF boss Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo was invited.
Fighting broke out last April after a row between Gen Dagalo and Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s army.
